


By The Light of the Dark BOOK ONE - How to Raise Wolves

by SpringFire1994



Series: By the Light of the Dark [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Black Family-centric (Harry Potter), F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Morally Grey, Multi, Other, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 84,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25128886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpringFire1994/pseuds/SpringFire1994
Summary: What if Sirius Black had never chased Pettigrew to their collective doom? What if one orphan became two brothers, and two brothers became three friends, and those three friends became the five children, Fate had decreed would save the world? This story is about a hero and a father. This story is about the largest gambit Fate had ever attempted. This story is about a man named Sirius Black, and his quest to raise wolves. LIGHT OF THE DARK - Book 1 (Originally posted on FF.Net)
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, Andromeda Black Tonks/Ted Tonks, Arcturus Black III/Melania Macmillan Black, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Mr Granger/Mrs Granger (Harry Potter), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: By the Light of the Dark [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820275
Comments: 27
Kudos: 131





	1. The Cost of War

**Hi everyone, this fic has several chapters already written so postings will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays until I have caught up with what is already posted on FF.Net! Hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think - Kiad**

* * *

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter One - The Cost of War

The dark-haired man felt his heart hammering in his chest as he approached what was left of the cottage. The cottage in which he had spent numerous happy days, filled with laughter and love and friends. He didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t. A vicious curse slipped past his lips as he strode up the garden path. It was too quiet inside. Murderous thoughts were starting to stir by the time he was in touching distance of the door. He was going to squeeze the life out of that traitorous rat who had dared call himself their friend. Right after he had throttled Dumbledore. He gave the door a shove and dropped to his knees as brown lifeless eyes gazed back at him. James. 

“Prongs?” He whispered, nudging his friend’s shoulder, hoping beyond hope that it was anything but what it looked like. He cast a finite achieving the same results (which were none). His best friend was dead. A choked breath stuttered out of him and he brushed his hand over his friend’s face, closing his eyes. He glanced at the stairs and squared his shoulders, knowing that he had to check. Even if it was a small chance, he had to check.

He took the stairs two at a time, a hasty Lumos lighting his path, and pushed open the door to the nursery. As he had expected, Lily was in the same state as her husband, appearing as though she had thrown herself in front of Harry’s cot. He repeated the process he had done with James, casting a finite before moving to close her eyes. He took a breath, steeling himself for the next one. For Harry. He peered into the cot brushed his hand over Harry’s forehead, frowning at the oozing cut before piecing together what his eyes were telling him. The dead don’t bleed. Harry was alive. The air rushed out of him and he felt his knees fail, landing him beside the cot; his eyes drinking in the sight of little Harry’s chest moving up and down between the bars. Shaking himself to his senses, he stood up and reached out to squeeze Harry’s shoulder, soon locking on to the pair of bright green eyes, his ministrations had rewarded him. 

“Hey there Prongslet.” He whispered, his voice instantly soothing away the frown that had appeared on the baby’s forehead. “I’m going to grab your bag and then you’re coming with me for a while okay?” He knew that the one year old was unlikely to understand him but, holding a one-sided conversation with Harry was drawing his mind away from the horrors that the rest of the cottage had subjected him to. He picked up Harry’s nappy bag from the corner of the room, brushing off as much debris and dust as he could, before filling it with spare clothes from the drawers and as many nappies as he could find in the room. A trio of stuffed animals entered the bag (thank merlin for lily’s expanding charms, he thought), followed by Harry’s favourite blanket (the red one James had bought that had been embroidered with golden snitches), and he quickly ran downstairs and raided the cupboard for milk formula and a couple of bottles. 

By the time he had made it back to the nursery Harry had started to get fussy and was stood up in his cot, reaching his hand out to Lily and open and closing his fist. Sirius quickly slung the bag onto his shoulder and picked Harry up, wrapping him in his bedding to protect him from the chill that had started to permeate the air. He held his precious cargo close to his shoulder as he made his way back through the cottage and out of the door. He had almost reached his motorbike when a shout from across the square alerted him to the fact that he was now not alone. 

“Sirius, I ‘spected I’d find yeh here.” Hagrid said as soon as he’d reached him. The half giant was dabbing his eyes with a large orange handkerchief and had his pink umbrella held tightly in his hand.

“They’re dead.” Sirius struggled out, a feeling of hollowness starting to well up inside his stomach. “I’m taking Harry to mine and Remus’s place.”

“Ah.” Hagrid got out. “Thought that mighta’ been the case, but he has an Aunt you see an’ Dumbledore insisted.” Sirius felt anger was over him and he cut the half giant off.

“Dumbledore can take a walk, he’s my godson and he’s coming with me.” The half giant looked as though he was going to concede before he straightened himself out and drew himself up to his full height (an impressive 9ft).

“Now look Black I don’t want to turn this inta an argument however Dumbledore insisted and Harry needs ta’be checked by Poppy.” Hagrid placed a hand on his shoulder and Sirius felt something wash over him. He nodded absently and handed Harry over, placing a light sleeping charm on him, with a muttered ‘I suppose you are right’. Hagrid nodded and took the child, who looked simply tiny in his arms and Sirius found himself offering the half giant his motorbike. Ten minutes after Hagrid had left Sirius was cursing up a storm, livid and more than a little hysterical. He growled and apparated to the one place where he knew he could get help.

O_o_O_o_O

Remus Lupin was a strong man. A survivor. He had survived the bite that had infected him with lycanthropy, he had survived seven years at Hogwarts and so far, he had survived the wizarding war against Voldemort. Yes, Remus Lupin was a strong man however, when Sirius showed up on their doorstep, covered in dust and debris; Harry’s nappy bag on his shoulder and a look of complete devastation on his high-born features, Remus Lupin felt his body go weak. He slumped against the wall in their hallway and his legs gave out from under him, only for Sirius to catch his fall, steadying him as he tried to hold back the wolf that had reared up under his skin.

“Moony.” Sirius said softly; lowering them to the floor gently and gripping his pack-mate’s shoulder. He called Moony again when he received no answer and amber eyes flicked to his, narrowing as the wolf attempted to assess whether he was a threat. “Moony you have to focus. Harry is alive and is heading for Hogwarts and Dumbledore as we speak.” The amber dimmed momentarily as Remus registered his friend’s words.

“Harry’s alive?” He asked, his eyes holding so much hope that Sirius felt his gut churn.

“Yes, but we need to fetch him from Dumbledore. I was going to bring him here but Hagrid…” Sirius trailed off and Remus, now somewhat in control over Moony prompted him to continue. “I need a drink.” Remus nodded, and he pushed himself up from where he’d still been slumped against the wall. The pair made their way into the living room of their apartment and Remus poured two large tumblers of Firewhiskey, bringing them and the bottle over to the table.

“I suppose it’s too much to hope… James?” He whispered the question, sitting down at the side of Sirius, who shook his head, determined to keep it together. “Lily?” Another shake of the head and the werewolf felt a mixture of guilt, anger and grief churn in his gut.

“They tried to save him. It looked like Lily literally threw herself in front of him.”

“But cub is alive?” Remus asked, sniffing the air. “I can smell him.” Sirius sighed and bent forward, covering his face with his hands and breathing deeply. 

“Merlin Remus this is my fault. If they hadn’t been so determined to change secret keeper. If I hadn’t insisted that the… Rat was a less likely target.” The weight of the situation seemed to crash down on the pair of them; what they had lost and who had been responsible. Peter had sold them out to Voldemort. Peter was the rat in the order. Peter betrayed them. James and Lily were dead. A shudder passed through Sirius and Remus could tell that he was supressing tears. He wrapped an arm around his friend and pulled him close, Sirius’s arms automatically threading around his waist.

“We need to keep it together Pads.” He whispered, even then his heart aching at the thought of having to be strong. “We need to get Harry before Dumbledore hides him away somewhere we can’t follow.”

“Hagrid said something about Petunia.”

“Merlin Sirius, we have to go now.” Remus growled, passing Sirius one of the drinks, knocking back his own in one and noting Sirius do the same. He practically dragged his friend to the cupboard in the hall and threw on a leather jacket. 

They made their way to the steps of their apartment and Remus apparated them straight to Privet Drive, disillusioning them both and pulling them into the shadows, as he caught a familiar scent. He erected a privacy ward around the two of them and explained to Sirius the reality of the relationship between Lily and her sister. “She can’t be trusted Pads.” He growled. “She hates anything to do with magic. Harry cannot and will not be raised here.” 

A familiar sound above their heads caught their instant attention, and they watched Sirius’s bike land. Remus (or Moony, for Sirius wasn’t quite sure who was in control); growled as they observed the conversation between Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid. They both caught Dumbledore’s not-so-subtle wandwork as he cast compulsions upon their favourite professor and the half giant and Sirius knew instantly how he’d ended up handing Harry over to the gamekeeper.

Ten minutes later and the street was once again silent and empty. Sirius felt fury in his stomach and he rounded on his pack-mate. 

“That’s it?” He hissed. “A notice-me-not, a sleeping charm and a blanket?” He’ll freeze to death!” Remus, for once found himself in charge and grabbed hold of Sirius’s shoulder, growling out a ‘focus Pads’, before steering them both towards number four. Sirius scooped up his godson and within minutes they were back home and tucking Harry into a transfigured cot in the sitting room.

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius was pacing. Like properly pacing. He knew that the Black male only did that when he was having thoughts he didn’t like. He suspected he knew what his mate was thinking, and those suspicions were proven correct when a hissed-out string of expletives left Sirius’s mouth, punctuated with ‘sneaking rat’, ‘interfering old coot’ and ‘sherry sodden fraud’.

“You can’t go after Peter.” Remus stated, causing Sirius to momentarily pause his pacing to glare at him. He was soon back wearing a hole in the carpet and Remus sighed. “You definitely can’t go after Dumbledore, and Trelawney has been spewing out bogus prophecies for at least four decades.”

“Thank you for your astute observations Remus.” Sirius snapped. “As if I didn’t know that already.” Moony growled at the challenge in Padfoot’s voice before Remus thoroughly quashed his wolf.

“So, what can you do?” He asked, knowing Sirius had got the hint when a wince passed over his features. 

“I can’t go back there.” He snarled out, turning to face the window so that he could hide his expression. 

“I’m not talking about them.” Remus stressed. “I’m talking about him.”

“We’d be handing Harry over to the Dark Lord.” Sirius hissed, finally facing his mate, his features full of fury. 

“Perhaps, perhaps not.” Remus pointed out. “He made you heir for a reason.”

“Stop talking in riddles.” Sirius growled.

“Arcturus Black knew which path you were taking Sirius.” Remus stressed. “He knew you weren’t going to follow the family, yet he made you heir after you left your parents anyway. He could have disowned you there and then, but he didn’t.”

“That old snake has a reason for everything he does.” Sirius growled. “I trust him about as much as I trust Dumbledore.”

“Your grandfather didn’t interview a sherry sodden seer with questionable abilities. Your grandfather isn’t playing some huge game that we have yet to even begin unravelling. Your grandfather didn’t get James and Lily killed last night.” Remus said, knowing that he was getting through to his mate. They’d managed to steal about two hours sleep since they’d rescued Harry, curled up together in bed, their limbs entangled, and their dreams filled with death. They knew the conversation of their developing relationship would come sooner rather than later but they didn’t want to think about it right now.

“What about Frank and Alice?” Sirius asked, desperately attempting to find a way out of the situation Remus was suggesting.

“They are in as much danger now as James and Lily were. More if any of the death eaters find out that Harry defeated Voldemort.”

“You are certain that’s what happened?”

“As certain as I can be.” Remus said with a shrug. “By your description of the cottage, Harry’s cut registering the darkest magic I’ve ever seen and the wording of the prophecy, I am certain he’s at least currently out of action for a while. Re-joining your family would be the smart thing to do Pads. It will give you the political leverage to go after both Pettigrew and Dumbledore, and if the dark lord does return just maybe it will provide Harry with a modicum of protection. Think about it, the baby that is destined to defeat you, does so, then when you finally get back on your feet, you find out that the child is now in your reach, in your possession, on your side of the war. You are now potentially in a position, stronger than the one you would have been in before your defeat. The child can now stand with you rather than against, or at least, an understanding can be made to not take up arms against each other.” 

“I don’t like it.” Sirius grumbled.

“Neither do I. Not fully at least. But it’s the best I’ve got and if you have anything else, now would be the time.”

“We run to Australia and don’t come back?” Sirius said hopefully.

“Not a chance.” The werewolf snorted.

“Fine then.” The Black dropped down onto the settee with a huge sigh. “But as soon as Harry is awake, I’m going to get the Longbottoms. We’re not doing this alone and Frank has Black blood.”

“Augusta is going to be thrilled.” Remus said with a wolfish grin, his eyes flashing amber and Sirius couldn’t help but huff out a laugh.

O_o_O_o_O

“Alice, take Neville upstairs and run!” Frank shouted, unknowingly echoing James Potter’s words, the night previous. “The wards are coming down, I’ll hold them off for as long as I can!” There was a crack as two figures appeared at either side of the Longbottom Lord and if he hadn’t had the full confidence in the wards only letting friends through, he would have cursed them into oblivion. The man was the picture of fury with a wand and the pair of marauders each received a sharp stinging hex for scaring two decades off his life. 

“Merlin’s balls Frank.” Sirius muttered, rubbing his shoulder where Frank’s hex had hit. “Was there any need?” Sirius held his hands up and grinned at Frank’s answering growl before another shudder in the wards brought them back to reality. “How many?” He asked, switching into Auror mode.

“Four; two at the front two at the back, no anti transport wards yet, obviously,” He growled shooting them another glare. “but it won’t be long before they realise that we are awake.” Alice had slowly made her way down to where the trio stood; baby Neville in her arms.

“Where is your mother?” Remus asked, his eyes already amber and his wolf stirring for a fight.

“She had business with Minerva this morning…” Before Frank could finish a wolf was bursting out of Remus’s wand. He instructed the Patronus to send a message to Augusta before taking Alice by the arm and apparating her and Neville out of the manor, returning a moment later to Sirius’s side.

“Do you want to fight them or are we keeping this to a rescue?” Remus asked impatiently. Frank shot a look at the window where his wards were starting to glow under the heavy spell fire before seemingly making his mind up. 

“The house is not worth any of us getting hurt, let’s get out of here.” Sirius grabbed his arm and soon the three of them appeared in the sitting room of the Doghouse, facing a white-faced Alice who was sitting on the settee staring at Harry’s cot.

“Why do you have Harry?” She whispered, fearing that she already knew the answer. Sirius walked over to the cot and lifted his godson into his arms as Remus sighed and took a seat next to her. 

“You aren’t going to like this.” The werewolf replied softly, and Frank blanched as he began to understand why the two marauders had turned up in their Yorkshire manor.

O_o_O_o_O

Augusta lifted her teacup and took another sip as she attempted to analyse her friend’s words. Something didn’t add up she decided. Why; if Sirius and Alice had been named godparents had Dumbledore insisted that Harry went to his Aunt’s? Underneath her calm exterior she was fuming. With a child as powerful as Harry; Occlumency would have to be taught well before the age of eleven. His core was still growing and would potentially be damaged because of accidental magic. Not to mention that he was heir to the Potter house, if not the Black house as well. To have denied the child his heritage was a crime all to itself. 

“You say that you watched them?” She asked, her lips thinned as she tried to get to the bottom of why her friend had gone through with the crazy old man’s scheme.

“Yes, the worst sort of muggles!” Minerva answered her Scottish brogue full of righteous anger. “I saw their child kick his mother all the way up their drive because they didn’t let him have sweets!”

“Then what makes you think that Harry Potter will be best placed in their care?”

“Dumbledore said…”

“I don’t give a damn about Dumbledore Minerva!” Augusta growled, her nostrils flaring in a rare show of temper. “Why do you think that he’s safe there?” The transfiguration professor narrowed her eyes, first at the Longbottom matriarch’s tone then further when she tried to work out why she had agreed with Dumbledore.

“I don’t know.” She said, puzzled. 

“I worry about you up here with that old coot. I wouldn’t put it past him to have a loose wand around you. Some of the decisions the people have been making under his leadership are at best questionable and at worst criminal.” She held up her hand to stall Minerva’s oncoming denial and started to give her friend some examples. “If I didn’t trust Remus Lupin to be discreet, the choice to spy on the werewolf packs in mainland Europe could have been an international and political nightmare. I also don’t understand why Sirius would just give up his godson to Hagrid. He’s heir to an ancient and noble house, he knows his rights as a godfather. Then there is your decision to leave a powerful, magical child with muggles, without question and at a danger to said child. Minerva something is going on that I don’t like, and I will get to the bottom of it.” The Scot sat back with a sigh of defeat and rubbed at her temples, accepting another cup of tea, which Augusta pushed into her hands.

“I want to deny it Augusta.” She said quietly, ignoring the woman’s inelegant snort. “But leaving Harry with muggles doesn’t sound like something I could agree to, whether Albus insisted or not. The Sirius Black situation also appears to be unusual, but I don’t understand how this could possibly point to what you are suggesting.”

“Admit it Minerva.” Augusta almost snapped, getting up from her chair to stalk in front of the fire. “You are suspicious.” Whatever answer Minerva was going to give was cut off by a Patronus. The wolf took form upon the large rug and stared at Augusta before Remus’s voice floated out.

“Deatheaters attacked the Arboretum. Everyone safe at the Doghouse. Bring Minerva.” It faded away and Augusta succeeded in pulling herself together sharply in the face of the news of an attack on the Longbottom estate.

“You heard it Minnie.” She breezed, already beginning to pull on her outerwear. “Get your cloak, we’re taking a trip to Oxford.”

O_o_O_o_O

The Doghouse; as it was so quaintly named by one Lily Potter, was found on St. Thomas Street in the heart of the historic city of Oxford. Remus had salivated at the thought of living so close to the college and Sirius had been insistent that they didn’t skimp on the price when looking for a place between them. A spacious two bed apartment with a decent size kitchen/diner and a cosy sitting room had become the perfect bachelor pad for the two canines of the marauders. The night life wasn’t awful, much to Sirius’s delight (and Remus’s chagrin), and the delightfully muggle backdrop ensured that they were well hidden from the eyes of the wizarding world. They had made their home here quite comfortably, and if one of the bedrooms was rarely used well… who was to know?

Augusta landed them very neatly on the door step, having side-along apparated Minerva as soon as they had cleared the castle wards. Not even bothering to knock on the door, the Longbottom matriarch led her friend into the apartment and greeted her family, checking over the three of them for signs of injury. Alice promptly handed Neville over to his grandmother and wrapped her arms around her husband, drawing comfort from him. Remus and Sirius soon appeared from the kitchen carrying a tea tray and six cups and Minerva rounded on them, nostrils flaring as her temper worked its way to the surface.

“I assume you have answers Black, and I assume you are going to be forthcoming, otherwise you may return me to Hogwarts without delay.” Minerva growled, and even Augusta winced at her sharp, unforgiving tone. Here were two men who had lost everything but each other the night before, and their respected friend looked as though she was going to chew them out for breaking curfew. 

“Professor…” Remus started, placing the tea tray on the table and hovering in front of Harry’s cot, protectively. “Please sit down, we have information for you, and answers. We’ll let Sirius make some tea and we’ll discuss this calmly.” Minerva nodded stiffly as she took a seat in one of the armchairs, glaring at Sirius as he started to pour the tea. The Longbottoms retook their own seats; Neville being handed back to his mother and Remus maintained his position in front of Harry. Minerva found herself glancing at the cot behind Remus and the werewolf shifted nervously before gathering himself and drawing back his shoulders. Gone was the mild-mannered, gentle man and in his place was someone who looked as though they were about to enter battle with a deadly foe. “You might not like what we have to say, but I please ask that you wait and hear everything before chewing us out.” He said; lifting Harry out of the cot and handing him to their old head of house. As she drank in the sight of the baby, Remus sat down at the side of her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I need to check your mindscape Minnie.” He said gently.

“Why?” She snapped and glared at Augusta when she snorted rather inelegantly from the other side of the room.

“I’d have thought that was obvious.” Her friend drawled, taking a sip of her tea with an appreciative nod to Sirius. “They think Dumbledore has been at your memories.”

“Albus would never…”

“For merlin’s sake Minerva we had this conversation not half an hour ago!” The other witch exclaimed exasperatedly. “You were about to admit to me that your actions have been somewhat questionable as of these last 48 hours. Let Remus look at your mindscape. If he’s wrong, then I give you personal permission to chew all of us out. If we’re right, then you can sit here and listen to what these two have to say for themselves and we can work together going forwards.” Minerva seemed to war with herself before giving Remus a sharp nod. The werewolf blew out a sigh of relief and lifted Harry out of her arms, passing him to Sirius.

“I’ll be as gentle as I can however, if there is anything wrong in there I’m going to need to try and fix it.”

“There will be headache relievers waiting for both of you afterwards.” Sirius supplied with a smile and a nod to their professor. She took a deep breath and indicated that she was ready, and Remus easily and gently slipped into her mind.

O_o_O_o_O

“I want answers Black and I want them now.” Minerva growled as she paced in front of the large windows in the living room. Remus’s ministrations had taken longer than they had expected and as soon as he’d withdrawn from her mind she had dashed to the bathroom to relieve herself of her lunch. A stomach settler, a headache potion and two cups of strong tea later and she realised that she may need something a little stronger. Her mind was going a mile a minute and there were a lot of memories that needed sorting through. In short; she wanted to wring the scrawny neck of one Albus Dumbledore.

“Last night, as you know;” Sirius started, playing mother and pouring more tea as he spoke; Harry having been placed back into his cot, amid the drama. “I went to see Peter. I’d had a feeling in my stomach all day and felt the need to check on both him and the cottage.” He sat back heavily in his chair, crossing his legs and sipping his tea, his face a mask of carefully constructed arrogance. Augusta could see however, the pain, guilt and anger in his face and she was certain that her friend hadn’t missed it either. “When he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, I went straight to the cottage. I was too late.” And there was the underlying pain she thought as a look swept over his face. “I retrieved Harry, shocked beyond measure but eternally grateful to find him alive and was going to bring him here.”

“Hagrid stopped you.” Minerva stated, rather than asked. 

“He told me that Dumbledore insisted that Harry was to go with him. I of course refused as I am his godfather and Harry belongs with me. I was then informed that Dumbledore planned for him to go to his aunt’s and I again refused. I don’t know what happened exactly, but I know the feel of a compulsion and by the time I’d shaken it off, Hagrid was well away with Harry and my motorbike.”

“Hagrid can’t cast compulsions.” Minerva said with a frown.

“No, he can’t.” Remus agreed. “However, compulsions can be woven into any object that the caster desires and can be of any nature. They can also be tied to a word or a trigger and can also be timed.”

“That is very advanced magic Mr Lupin.”

“Exactly.” Sirius answered for his pack-mate. “By the time I got back here Dumbledore must have already been on the move with Harry, as we got to Privet Drive just in time to watch your exchange and Dumbledore casting something on both yourself and Hagrid a compulsion or an obliviate I couldn’t tell. As soon as the street was empty we collected Harry and brought him here, where he’s done nothing but sleep and eat for the last few hours. As soon as he had been fed this morning we went to collect Frank and Alice, knowing that they were in the same position as Lily and James, due to the prophecy.”

“They got us out just before the wards fell.” Frank said with a nod. “Scared years off me by apparating straight into the house though. I thought one of the ‘eaters had gotten through.”

“We apologised,” Sirius said with a whine. “and there was still no need to hex us.”

“So what happens now?” Augusta asked. “Are we to hide here?”

“For now.” Remus replied with a nod. “At least until things have died down somewhat. At most it will be a couple of weeks.”

“I hope you understand the gravity of the situation you have both landed yourselves in by taking Harry.” Minerva said dangerously. “Dumbledore would have erected at least some wards around Privet Drive and he will know that Harry is no longer there.”

“I can promise you that there are no wards around Petunia’s.” Remus replied. “I would have felt them as soon as we entered the boundary.”

“Are you quite sure?” Augusta was frowning, this situation was becoming increasingly dire. Her anger at the Hogwarts headmaster was growing with every new piece of information and she knew that Sirius and Remus would not have missed the fact that the Potter heir had been left on a muggle doorstep with no protection from the larger wizarding world.

“I’m positive. I wouldn’t be wrong about something like this. There was no protection around that house. Dumbledore will never know that we took Harry.”

“What are you planning?” Frank asked.

“We plan to move the Dursleys to safety as soon as possible.” Sirius answered. “We can convince them that the war is starting to spill over into their world and once they are set up with a new life, out from under Dumbledore’s nose we will burn Privet drive to the ground and leave evidence that they; including Harry were still in the house. A blood adoption of Harry will soon have Hogwarts records wiped clean of a Potter and we will ‘adopt’ a child into the Black family, naming him after our best friend’s son.”

“You’re faking his death?” Minerva asked, her face ashen and her eyes wide.

“It’s that or leave the country.” Sirius snapped. He stood up and started to pace in front of Harry’s cot, his face filled with anger. “What else can we do Minerva? We knew that Dumbledore was behind the change of secret keeper, hell we even suspect that he was behind the information being leaked to Voldemort. I can’t even believe that Lily and James were fighting for the right reasons anymore, all because that manipulative bastard has had his wand in too many people’s memories and actions.” Remus was up from his seat as soon as he sensed his mate cracking and the young Black wasted no time in wrapping his arms around the werewolf and letting his anger and grief out onto his shoulder. 

“There is obviously information that we have that you do not.” Remus said quietly, rubbing his hand up and down his mate’s back and addressing the whole room. “I propose that we leave a little time for tempers to cool before revisiting this subject. Harry and Neville are safe, unless anyone in this room plans on changing that fact, and we have the bare bones of a plan in place. Staying in England is not just our preferred option, at the minute it’s our only one. Running away will solve none of our problems and could potentially create a whole lot of new ones. Let’s give it a couple of days to think on our next moves before taking any action. Does that sound agreeable?” He extracted nods from the three Longbottoms and Minerva before pulling back from Sirius and asking the same of him. The subsequent relief was palpable at the young man’s nod and discussions turned to the immediate future.

“I will have to return to Hogwarts before I am missed.” Minerva said pursing her lips at the thought of having to deal with the headmaster. “Albus will hear nothing of any of this from me, and I will be by tomorrow to check on Harry.”

“You are always welcome Minerva.” Remus said gently, he and Sirius returning to their previous seats. “Our door is always open, and you have our gratitude for your part to keep us safe.” Minerva nodded and stood up to leave, summoning her cloak. “You may want to spend an hour or two sorting through your memories this evening, but if there is anything you need from us, we doubt we will find much sleep tonight, so please feel free to drop in. At any time.” The Hogwarts mistress nodded her thanks and disapparated from the flat with a small pop.

“We want you to stay here.” Sirius stated turning to Frank and Alice. “The Arboretum is not safe for you and we have a spare room. Augusta can use ours for now and we’ll take the settees in here.”

“We will be kicking no one out of their rooms.” Alice said quietly. “Frank and I can sleep in here.”

“Nonsense.” Remus responded, shaking his head. “You won’t be kicking either of us out of anywhere, and we want to be here to watch over Harry.” The last part was whispered, absentmindedly, and with a wistful gaze towards Harry’s cot, where the child was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the muted chaos and grief surrounding him.

“We should all be together after what has happened.” Sirius added quietly. “I don’t think either of us could imagine what it would do to us if anything came of you.” 

“Then it’s settled.” Augusta said with a definitive nod, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “We will gratefully accept your offer of hospitality until we have a complete plan of what comes next.” Remus and Sirius blew out two identical sighs of relief and the Firewhiskey soon made an appearance, with toasts made to Lily and James who had been claimed by the war at far to young an age, like so many others.


	2. Of Queens, Bishops and Pawns

**Hi everyone, I have decided that this fic will also get updated on Saturdays as well, so keep an eye out on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for the next chapters. I have ten of them written so far, with another two well under way. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think down in the comments! ~ Kiad**

* * *

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Two - Of Queens, Bishops and Pawns

“You want to do what?” Frank stormed, flying up from his seat and backing away from the two men. “You have gone mad! You will get the lot of us killed with this!”

“Frank sit down and shut up!” Augusta shouted, shocking her son into silence. “If Remus thinks that this is the best course of action then the least you can do hear him out.” It wasn’t going well Sirius conceded with a sigh. The idea of handing not just Harry but Neville over to the head of the Black family was scaring him almost as much as it was Frank. He knew that when it came to it, Augusta would have the most influence on the direction they were to take, however he honestly couldn’t say that this was it.

“I wish I could tell you that this is what is going to save our children.” He almost whispered against the silence that had started to permeate the room. “I wish I could tell you that this is what we want. I wish I could tell you that this is exactly the _opposite_ of what we want. But at the moment we have no idea what we want other than protecting the boys, and this is the best we’ve got. My grandfather has always been a rational man, and considering his age, I would most likely be head of house before the boys start school. We estimate that no matter what the dark lord might have in place to keep him alive, it is unlikely that he will make an appearance before then.”

“So, you are going off of your own guess work.” Frank snarled, having re-taken his seat after much glaring from Augusta. It had been three days since the funeral of Lily and James and Sirius, attempting to keep face; had kicked up a fuss with Dumbledore over Harry’s placement. The headmaster had refused to budge on his decision however, claiming that Harry was completely safe, living with his aunt. If nothing else, it had served as confirmation that he didn’t know that Harry was not at Privet Drive and the last step in their plan before moving the Dursleys was to convince the Longbottoms to join them on their move back into the Black family.

“It’s more than just guesswork.” Remus supplied. “You forget that I went to the cottage not even a week ago. I know what I saw, and I know what my spells picked up. Voldemort is out of action for at least a decade. No witch or wizard could come through that big of a magical backlash and survive without injury.”

“Do you think that I would even be considering this if we had another choice?” Sirius growled; his famous temper starting to surface. “I didn’t run away for nothing Frank, I wanted out. It just so happens that seeing as I am still the heir, I will one day have a duty to take up the house, whether I want to or not. I don’t want to have to do that in five, six, seven years’ time with the little knowledge I have right now. I also don’t want to have to learn everything about the house and be having to teach Harry at the same time. I know that this is the last thing you want to do, believe me I _know_ , but I can’t see a better way to keep us safe. The Black name _will_ give me the leverage I need to go after Dumbledore, but if I am going to do it, I can’t do it alone.”

“Raising the boys together makes sense.” Remus said, taking over from his mate as they continued their double-teaming against the male Longbottom. “The two children of the prophecy could become a powerful weapon for either side of the war. We want to see that threat eliminated. Harry and Neville are not weapons, they are _children_ and the future we are looking at providing for them, give them the best chance to be just that; _children_. Who do you think Dumbledore will look to once we take Harry out of the equation? Whose door do you think he will knock on next when the child he had earmarked to take down the dark lord is killed in a muggle house fire?”

“We will not force you to do this Frank. We just want what is best for our children.”

“Personally, I think the idea is quite ingenious.” Augusta said matter-of-factly; causing her son to look at her in shock. “Oh, don’t give me that look you stupid boy, their plan is the surest way of protecting the children whilst sticking one to the old coot up in the castle. Sirius is right, Albus thinks of the followers of the light as pawns in his great game against Voldemort. What he fails to comprehend are that people are people, not playthings to do with as he wishes. If their suspicions are correct and that the prophecy is false, that Dumbledore had something to do with it being leaked and that he knew about Pettigrew from the start, then where better for us to go than the dark? He will not allow us to stay neutral, you know that, and if we stay with the light, he _will_ get us killed one way or another.”

“So, you agree that this is what is best for the boys?” Alice asked her mother-in-law.

“I do. This is the only way to give them protection before they start school, and if Sirius is correct in the assumption that he will be running the house by then, it might just give us the chance to protect them _in_ school.”

“I still don’t like it.” Frank said with a scowl.

“Neither do we.” Remus responded. “But if you have a better idea that ensures the boys get on the train to Hogwarts at eleven, unharmed and with iron-clad protection then please feel free to share it with us. If the situation changes then so will our plans; but right now, our focus should be on protecting ourselves, Harry and Neville.”

“They killed people Remus. How can we expect to raise children in an environment like that? It isn’t just the murders, we’ve all heard the stories of what they do to women and small girls. How will we be able to protect them from that?”

“By surrounding ourselves with bishops Frank. Harry and Neville will be raised by _us_ not Deatheaters. We will teach them all we can about both sides of the war then let them make their own minds up. If they turn out darker than expected, then so be it. I’d rather Harry be dark that _dead._ Say that Harry is our Queen, Neville is our King and any one of us is their bishop. Dumbledore is the opposing king and easily checkmated if we plan our moves correctly. Unlike chess though, Harry and Neville are going to have not just one Bishop on their side, but a whole host of Rooks and Knights to go along with it. Our biggest threats are Dumbledore’s pawns, consisting of the rest of the Order, a good portion of which is made up of Weasleys.”

“I still don’t like it.” Frank spat, and the debate continued.

O_o_O_o_O

Over five hundred miles away from the debates happening in Oxford, Minerva was fighting her own internal battle. She was finding it increasingly difficult to function around Dumbledore as though nothing had changed, and she was ashamed to admit that the single malt she saved for emergencies had taken a bit of a hit in the two weeks since Halloween. She had discreetly checked up on the Dursley’s and found Remus’s deductions to be factually correct, no wards had been placed around the muggle house and they seemed blissfully unaware of the death of Petunia’s sister.

She almost envied them. The deaths of the Potters had hit her hard, and with that one thought, she hated Dumbledore more than ever. Because she had information that Sirius and Remus didn’t. She knew a terrible truth that was going to devastate them. She only hoped that between them her and Augusta could prevent them from committing a murder.

She picked up the half empty bottle from her bookcase and considered it for a moment, before launching it into the fire with a growl worthy of her ancestors. As she shielded the subsequent explosion she knew what she had to do. First thing in the morning she was taking a trip to Oxford.

O_o_O_o_O

The conversation (argument) had been continuing around her for more than two hours now. Apart from asking a clarifying question or two she’d remained mostly within her thoughts as her husband became more and more irate. She wondered what Lily and James would make of all of this. Of their plan to turn to the other side. What if they would have agreed? What if Sirius’s suspicions were correct in the fact that they’d all been manipulated by Dumbledore? She’d already made her mind up on what she wanted to do next. Whatever the two men sat in front of her had cooked up would be guaranteed to be their best chance of survival. Remus was a master of strategy; always being able to look three moves ahead and Sirius had a cunning streak worthy of any Slytherin.

In truth; she was exhausted. She wished she could close her eyes and pretend that none of this had happened. That Lily and James were alive, that they weren’t now trying to figure out how to survive themselves, and that she was back at the manor; sat in her own chair and chatting to her best friend about how their boys were growing up so quickly. She also knew that Lily and James had a secret. Something that only she and four others now knew. She would keep her promise, and Lily’s secret, hoping that it would be enough to see another child survive the next decade.

“You should go to bed.” She jerked awake at Remus’s voice and his soft grip on her forearm, which she now realised was preventing Neville from sliding from her grip. She shifted her son further onto her lap, glad that he hadn’t woken with her and nodded tiredly.

“If it’s any help I think you’re doing the right thing.” She said groggily, standing up and glancing at her husband before settling her gaze onto Sirius. “Whatever you decide to do, I’ll follow you both one hundred percent. I trust you both to keep us safe. You haven’t failed us so far and I know you never will.” With one last glance at Frank she retired to their temporary bedroom, placing Neville in his cot and changing before climbing into bed. She knew that her husband would not be won over so easily. She also knew that he would be won over _eventually_. She just hoped that they would all be safe until he came to the realisation that this was the best thing they could do to protect themselves.

O_o_O_o_O

The silence that had been left by Alice’s departure was suffocating. Remus knew that if they didn’t manage to convince Frank then their plans would fall apart. Sirius wouldn’t want to do this on his own, and Remus couldn’t blame him. Sirius had left his home and family for several reasons and going back to them was anathema to Sirius’s spirit. The last couple of weeks had been nothing short of horrendous, and it didn’t seem as though thing were going to become much better. They couldn’t ignore what the dark sect was, or what it had done, but at the same time, staying with the light was going to get the lot of them killed.

“I don’t know if we can do this.” Frank whispered; finally breaking the silence. “I know that Alice seems all for it, but in the long run I don’t know how far we can go with this scheme. If you go back to your family, we’ll end up consorting with the likes of the _Malfoys_ Sirius. Narcissa is your closest cousin and has a young boy. I can’t see Arcturus turning down the opportunity for the three of them being raised together.”

“We know.” Remus replied; when it became clear that Sirius wasn’t going to answer. “Despite your allegations, we have thought all aspects of this scheme through and we still think that it’s the best thing for all of us. We’ve all heard the stories of what the Deatheaters do. We know all the gory details and yet we are willing to give this our best shot. Reluctantly I’ll admit, but we are willing. If all goes relatively well then, we can be merely unmarked supporters, helping in the field of politics rather than actually participating in raids. You move the Longbottom seat well into the grey sect, with the pillars of Black and Potter holding down either side. The Blacks have always skirted on the edge of Dark/Grey and likewise the Potters were always Light/Grey. It has only been in the last century or so that things have started to change because of the war. When the boys come of age we will have easily enough seats between our three houses to carve out our own agenda within the Wizengamot. We just have to get our boys there first.”

“And you are positive that this is the safest way possible?” Frank asked.

“Yes.” Sirius’s reply was direct, strong and filled with determination. His expression was about as honest as Augusta had ever seen it, the Black heir keeping himself closed off and cold most of the time. Here however, was a young man who believed in his plan so strongly that he was willing to open himself up to such scrutiny from her son. Augusta was close to losing it with Frank herself. She understood his reluctance, but she had made sure that he wasn’t blind to the headmaster’s dealings and had filled him in with a lot of information she had gleaned from Minerva, once the transfiguration mistress had renewed her mindscape. Her son was now treating these two men how she expected to have to treat Dumbledore, and she couldn’t help but feel pity for the pair who had lost everything on Halloween. It could have easily been Frank and Alice who had been at the end of Voldemort’s wand, and she would have been left to raise her grandson alone. Instead these two men had not only rescued them from Deatheaters but from Dumbledore as well; and were now giving them a chance to raise their boys together in a safe environment.

“I don’t much care for what the dark does.” She said, her lips thinning, and her eyes darting to her son. “But, I agree with Remus that this is the safest way to raise our children and give them a platform through the Wizengamot when they come of age. As you know, only my son may speak for house Longbottom, but I personally pledge not just my allegiance, but my support to both of you in your endeavours. I would be honoured to stand with you in this matter.”

“Mother I must protest!”

“Hush Frank mother is speaking.” She bit back, cutting her son off with a glare. “I will follow whatever path the pair of you take to protect both my family and the two boys, and I will place myself within your command. Whatever you ask of me, I will do my best to achieve.”

“Your pledge is gratefully acknowledged Augusta.” Sirius answered. “But I must stress that it is unnecessary. I do not wish for power, just safety.”

“Then you have much learning to do young Black. For your family craves power above all else; and uses it to their advantage. I have watched and respected Arcturus for many years, and despite the circles much of your family move in, he has always remained steadfast in the belief that it is family before everything else. _Toujours Pur_ after all means; always pure. Not in the pureblood dogma sense, but in that the family must remain pure, always putting itself before any outside influence to remain true to itself and its beliefs.”

“Then I graciously accept your allegiance and request that you assist me with learning everything about my house my parents omitted from my teachings.”

“Your parents did you and your brother a great disservice if you know so little as to be having to ask for my help, nevertheless I will gladly give it to assist you in furthering your goals.”

“I really think we should talk about this first.” Frank sputtered out, unable to contain himself for much longer.

“We have.” Augusta replied. “And Sirius has just received my answer. Now I will retire for an early night. We have much work to do in the morning.”

“We also are growing weary Frank.” Remus said, his eyes starting to turn amber, as his exhaustion brought forward his wolf. “So if you have nothing constructive to add to the conversation then I suggest tending to Alice and going to bed. James and Lily’s deaths have hit all of us hard, we shouldn’t be arguing like this. We need to stick together, for the boys if nothing else. Go to Alice and Neville Frank. We can continue this in the morning.” Frank looked as though he was desperate to argue but a stern glare from Augusta had him issuing his goodnights and trudging to their room despondently.

“Thank you.” Sirius said, relief washing over him as he nodded to Augusta. “I’m not sure how much more of this I could take tonight.”

“Hopefully you’ll not have to suffer much more full stop.” The woman replied. “If I don’t talk him around, Alice will. Have faith young Black, I predict we will all be safe by this time next week. Get some rest, we have much to do tomorrow and many plans to make within the coming weeks.” Both men nodded their thanks and goodnights to the elder matriarch as she left to prepare for bed before turning their attentions to each other and to Harry. Within half an hour their flat was silent and, curled together on a magically enlarged sofa the two men’s dreams were, for the first time in weeks; peaceful.

O_o_O_o_O

The morning dawned bright but cold over Oxford and a low mist hung in the air, rising from the Thames and clinging to the buildings. It was on mornings like this; when the world was silent that he was able to sort out his thoughts, away from the confines of the flat. He hadn’t known whether to strangle or hug Sirius when the old dog had handed him a university ID, acquired no doubt, with the use of _confundus_ charms but, he’d certainly intended to make full use of the thing. In truth, in the four years that they had been there, he’d visited the colleges only a handful of times; the war and the order having taken over everything and the chance to fully explore the wonderful city that they had begun to call home had yet to rear it’s head. Sure, they’d enjoyed the night life, much to his chagrin and Sirius’s delight, but he’d yet to find a favourite quiet drinking hole, coffee stop or even restaurant. Folly bridge however, had quickly become his favourite quiet place.

Just a 15-minute walk from the Doghouse; he’d started to frequent the spot every time he needed to escape the flat, just to sit and think. Sitting on the bridge with a quick notice-me-not and a couple of repelling charms, he’d come to fully appreciate the view down the river and at this time of day, before the larger boats had started to come and go, and the only traffic was an odd car or rower it was perfect.

“I thought I’d find you out here.” He smiled softly as Sirius climbed onto the bridge to join him.

“I needed air and time to think.” A comfortable silence fell over them and Remus felt himself leaning into his mate’s side, Sirius’s arm wrapping around his waist as he did so. Their relationship (if that is what you could yet call it), had become the centre point of most of his musings, as of late. Neither one of them had wanted to raise the subject before James and Lily had gone into hiding; the threat of the war was just too big of an obstacle, now though? Now he didn’t know how or even when to approach Sirius with the topic.

“We need to talk.” Sirius said softly, much to his surprise. It appeared as though he’d failed to comprehend how much his mate would be thinking in the same direction as he had.

“I think I like you.” He blurted out, stupidly. He kicked himself for the clumsy approach and could have hit Sirius when the man started to chuckle at the side of him.

“Well I should hope so too Moony my old bean. Look you’ve gone all pink.” Remus rubbed his cheeks as if to rub away the flush that had risen to the surface, only causing Sirius to chuckle even harder. He growled and only half-playfully punched the man’s arm. Sirius out-right laughed at that and he felt indignation turn to annoyance at the fact the man seemed incapable of having a serious conversation; pun intended or not. Luckily for both of them the man’s laughter started to abate, and he once again wrapped his arm around Remus, pulling him back into his side. “I love you too, you crazy werewolf.” He said softly. “But I wasn’t talking about that.”

“Oh.” His disappointment was almost palpable, and he knew that Sirius had seen it, the moment he pulled back to look at him. Well here goes nothing. “It’s just that we’re going to have to have the conversation about us before you meet with your grandfather.” He rushed out. “It’s one thing you going back to your family, but bringing a werewolf with you? You’re going to need a damn good explanation for that one.”

“Moony, when I said I love you…” He felt his heart lurch and immediately knew he had to back track fast before any further damage was wrought.

“Why what did you think _I_ meant?” He asked; ignoring the small voice in the back of his head telling him that denial wasn’t going to get him anywhere. At Sirius’s blank look he continued to play off the whole thing. ‘ _Style it out you idiot’_ the voice muttered _._ “I meant that we’re going to need to look into my position before you talk to him. I mean,” His confidence faltered, “if you think I should come with you.”

“Of course you’re coming with me.” Sirius said with a frown. “Why wouldn’t you? You’re my best friend.” ‘ _Ouch’_.

“Until not long ago that position was held by James.” He hadn’t meant to say that, and he _definitely_ hadn’t intended it to sound bitter or biting in the least. At Sirius’s strange look he decided to shrug the whole thing off. “Forget it Padfoot. It doesn’t matter.” ‘ _Nice going’_ he silenced the voice, pushing the thought into the back of his head and went back to stare out across the river. The atmosphere had grown tense and the content that had arrived with Sirius had been replaced by a hollow feeling in his chest. “So, what _did_ you want to talk about?” He asked, inconspicuously sliding away from the man’s side to put some space between them. Luckily, Sirius seemed deep in thought and hadn’t noticed his attempt at distance so the only thing he had to worry about was what was going to come out of the man’s mouth next.

“I think we need a change of tack with Frank.” ‘ _Whew awkward moment over’_ He crushed the voice once again and hitched on an interested expression.

“How do you propose we proceed?” He asked. He was trying to sound interested but all he could think about was going back to bed. The cold that had been refreshing and calm now seemed biting and he could feel it seeping into his bones. He turned and hopped off the bridge, thanking his lucky stars that Sirius followed suit, and he started to lead them back to the flat, all whilst concentrating on keeping his expression neutral as the man started hashing out a plan to deal with their Longbottom problems.

O_o_O_o_O

“You’re quiet.” Alice said, bouncing Neville on her lap. “I’d have thought the walk this morning would have done you good.” It had turned out that she’d been up almost as long as he had and had watched over both boys when Sirius had disappeared out to find him. The Black heir, Frank and Augusta were currently situated in the kitchen, Sirius trying out the plan he’d talked himself into on their way back to the flat, and he and Alice had been left to look over the boys whilst negotiations were taking place.

“I’m an idiot.” He mumbled, brushing his hand over a sleeping Harry’s head.

“Am I to take it you tried and failed to talk about your feelings with the idiot in there?” She said with a snort nodding towards the kitchen. He nodded his head despondently and a smirk appeared on her pretty features. “Let me guess, you bottled it.” He nodded again and felt anger bloom in his stomach at her huff of laughter. He felt heat rising in his throat and before he knew it, he had started to wipe his eyes as his frustration leaked out of them in fat, salty tears. It had been the one thing he hadn’t done yet. Not even at the funeral had he shed tears, and now here he was like an _idiot_ crying over the stupid, immature bastard that was Sirius Black.

Alice felt guilt and pity worm their way into her stomach and placed Neville on the floor to have a crawl, plucking Harry out of the man’s arms and laying him in his cot. She sat down at the side of him and pulled him into a hug, rubbing his shoulder as she felt his heart break; all over her jumper. “You’re both idiots.” She muttered as he snaked his arms around her. “He’s definitely the _bigger_ idiot but you’ve both got enough stupidity to go around.”

“I love him.” He choked out, the voice in his head laughing at him for his weakness.

“I know you do love.” Alice replied. “But he’s not ready to hear that just yet. Especially with everything else going off. Soon that will change but at this moment, it’s just not meant to be.” She didn’t understand. Nobody could understand he thought bitterly. He didn’t just _love_ Sirius; his wolf saw them as _mates._ Not pack mates or friends but _life_ -mates and the subsequent heartbreak that the morning’s events had wrought was dangerous for a werewolf. “Come on.” Alice said softly, rubbing his arm. “Let’s get the boys wrapped up and go out for a coffee.”

He nodded and she scooped up Neville from where he was playing with a stuffed wolf toy by Harry’s cot. Harry was now wide awake and was watching the other boy with large green eyes. Remus hitched on a smile and lifted the boy into his arms, passing him the stuffed black dog from the new toy basket by the settee. Alice had taken a trip to the shops within the first week of being in the flat and had bought a selection of toys for the two little ones. The basket contained bricks, plenty of squeaky toys which Remus had later informed her were meant for dogs (much hilarity ensuing) and the three stuffed animals Sirius had rescued from the Hollow.

He went through the motions of pulling on his coat, and scarf, wrapping Harry up in his outerwear and practically ignored Alice when she poked her head into the kitchen, to inform the rest of the house where they were off to. They strapped both boys into their pushchairs and she ushered him out of the house and into the sunshine. It was still cold, but the mist had lifted and the frost had all but disappeared and the sun, although weak was pleasant as they walked into town; keeping an eye on the boys as they pushed them along. Luckily, Neville and Harry seemed more interested in each other than anything else and were gurgling away, having their own little conversation in the way only children could.

“He’d be very lucky to have you.” Alice said softly, when it became clear that Remus was near enough a basket case. “Him and Harry both.” Not finding it in himself to answer they lapsed into silence as he led Alice further into the city centre. “I found a great coffee place here when I came to get the shopping for the kids.”

“Which one?”

“Something about a Queen?” She replied, furrowing her brow. “It was on a corner.”

“Queen’s Lane.” He said nodding and steering her in the right direction. “They do a nice slice of cake.”

“You are very comfortable in this world.” She said quietly, taking care not to be overheard. “I feel uncomfortable, like they are going to notice something odd about me.”

“It’s the same world Alice.” Remus ground out, gearing up for the same rant he had given Sirius. “We just have abilities that others don’t, like some are exceptionally good artists or can remember strings of numbers off the top of their head. We just have to be careful to hide our abilities out here. Limiting ourselves to Diagon, Hogsmeade and the ministry is madness. There is so much more out there to see.” Alice smiled and he shot her a glare, knowing exactly what she had done, he received a smirk for his efforts, and he blew out a sigh. “I’m tired Alice.” He said softly once his annoyance had passed.

“I know. But think of the chewing out you’ll be able to give the idiot when the subject gets raised in front of Arcturus.” He quirked an eyebrow at her and she flashed him another smirk. “My dear Remus, anyone with half a brain can see how you two feel about each other. Someone as sharp as Arcturus Black isn’t going to miss it.”

“It will be fun to see what kind of a face he pulls when I blurt out in front of his grandfather that we are life-mates.” That stopped Alice in her tracks, and she whirled around to face him in shock. He shrugged in confusion and she practically dragged him into the café; situating him at a table with a shush and plonking Harry into his arms before hurrying off to order drinks. It wasn’t until she was sat back down with their order and privacy spells had been put up wandlessly and wordlessly that she pressed the issue.

“When exactly were you going to tell me that you were a wolf?” She demanded and he looked at her in surprise. “Don’t you think that is something we might have wanted to know before embarking on this crazy plan of yours?” He felt his heart sink and readied himself for her forthcoming departure.

“I thought Lily had told you.” He whispered, despondently, asking himself how this day could get much worse. “Or Augusta.”

“Augusta knows?” Alice growled in indignation. “You told her before me?”

“I’ll understand if you want to take Neville and run. I’ll be disappointed but I’ll understand. But Alice, apart from one night a month where I lock myself away to transform, my lycanthropy doesn’t affect me all that much day to day.” Okay so that was a lie, but he knew that losing her as friend would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, or in this case the wolf’s back.

“Oh Remus.” She whispered, taking hold of his hands and squeezing them. “I’m not going anywhere. It was just a bit of a shock that’s all. I take it James, Sirius and the other one knew?”

“I thought everyone did.” He replied softly. “You say that you’re uncomfortable on this side of the divide, think how I feel on ours. I walk around feeling like I have werewolf tattooed on my forehead.”

“I take it that Moony is more than a nickname correct?” She said sadly; now beginning to comprehend how much this morning’s events must have affected the mild-mannered man in front of her. He nodded, not lifting his eyes from Harry’s dark hair. “And I take it Moony has already found his partner?” He nodded again.

“The wolf recognises Sirius as my life-mate, my ideal match.”

“Just so you know.” She said sternly, forcing him to look at her. “This changes nothing between us. I still love you to bits, and I still think you’re an idiot. Only now I’m beginning to question who is the bigger one between you and Sirius.”

“Definitely Sirius.” He replied, relief blossoming in his stomach, along with just a smidgen of hope. “Are you sure that you don’t mind? It’s just that people don’t usually become friends with things like me.”

“First of all,” The tiny female growled, building herself into a rant. “you are not a _thing_ Remus. Second of all we’re already friends so I know exactly who you are. Thirdly, if you ever question my judgment in friends again, I’ll hex you so badly you won’t be able to have fun with Sirius for a _week_.” He winced at the implied threat towards his jewels and nodded his acceptance.

“I just thought you might view me differently if you knew, and I honest thought you _did_ know.”

“I won’t lie to you sweetheart; I will view you differently.” Alice said softly, but with the slightest hint of a playful smile. “Now I know the reason behind your obsession, I’ll make sure you are fully stocked with chocolate around the full moon instead of teasing you for it. I’ll make sure that you are allowed to sleep in however long you need when you are going through your time of the month, and I’ll never let anyone else judge you for who you are without giving them an earful first. Not only that, I will here and now swear my allegiance and support to _you._ Not to the Blacks, not to Sirius; but to _you_. I love you sweetheart, and a little thing like this will never change that. We both lost an amazing friend in Lily; now let’s you and I stick together and honour her in the only way we know how.”

“Sticking it to the wizards.” He said with a grin; fondly recalling the redhead’s famous rants over discrimination towards anything not pureblood, male.

“Sticking it to the wizards.” Alice repeated with a firm nod.

O_o_O_o_O

He knew something had happened between them that morning, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. But he couldn’t dwell over the rather odd conversation he and his pack-mate had shared in the early mist. There was work to do. He had chosen to change tack with Frank and instead of barraging him with information he sat both the wizard and his mother down at the kitchen table, with a fresh pot of tea and instead asked Frank to voice his main concerns with their plan. This meant that the man in front of him was going to have to keep coming up with valid arguments for Sirius to derail, rather than just disagreeing with everything they had said.

“I cannot torture innocents just because of their blood, nor can I stand by whilst someone else does.”

“Most of the Deatheaters are in Azkaban.” Sirius said. “My crazy cousin, that’s Bella not Cissy, was arrested alongside Barty Crouch Jr and the LeStrange brothers, after the large concentration of spell fire at the Arboretum registered at the ministry.” This was news to both Longbottoms at the table and he filled them in with the trial and the fifteen-year sentence both had received for attacking a Pureblood manor. He then had Frank list down as many Deatheaters as he could name and Sirius went ahead and crossed out the names that had come from hearsay, just because they allied themselves with the dark.

“The Greengrass family were always neutral until two decades ago and even now it is a known fact that they have a daughter, with another child on the way. Hadrian has never been seen outside of the ministry walls and there more evidence to say that he is a devoted family man than there is to say he’s an ‘eater. The Gamps are both in their 150s and their family has always leaned towards the dark due to their affinity for sympathetic and empathetic abilities, not to mention the fact that Ulick was the one to establish the DMLE when he was minister.”

“The _first_ minister actually.” Augusta chipped in, earning her a glare from her son.

“You also have on this list the Zabini woman, which is would be quite a remarkable feat if she can fit ‘eater activity between all of those marriages.”

“They call her the Black widow.” Frank sputtered out with indignation.

“A muggle term coined for women whose husbands seem to mysteriously die not long after marriage. And the name of a muggle comic character who is an absolute badass. But, never mind that, none of the deaths of her husbands were ever treated as suspicious and no charges have ever been brought against her. So, now that your list comprises of people we _know_ are Deatheaters, we can start crossing out the names of those in Azkaban.” Sirius once again picked up the quill and by the time he had finished only a handful of names were left; including the Malfoys, who were admittedly their biggest threat, Snape, Nott Senior, Crabbe, Goyle, Karkaroff, Mucliber, Pettigrew, his parents and his brother.

“Not a particularly large list is it?” Augusta asked, raising an eyebrow at her son. “Neither are any of these names belonging to anyone particularly dangerous. The Blacks will be kept in line when Sirius becomes head of house, Crabbe, Goyle and Mucliber are mere thugs, Lucius and Nott are politicians, Karkaroff and Pettigrew are cowards and Snape is a turncoat. I must say that the situation is not as dire as it seems. If the likes of Rookwood, Dolohov and the LeStranges were still at large I’d be worried. As it is, our biggest threats are the Malfoys, and seeing as the Blacks hold primary over Narcissa’s marriage; Lucius will be brought to heel before long.

“So, what is your next concern?” Sirius asked, pushing the list to one side and focusing once more on the man in front of him. _‘Like chess’_ He thought. _‘Lead him to a checkmate’._

O_o_O_o_O

“How did your meeting go with Frank?” Remus asked as they prepared for bed. He and Alice had stayed in the café for most of the afternoon and as such, he’d missed out on what had happened between Sirius and the other two Longbottoms.

“Good.” The Black replied. “I think I managed to get through to him. How was your lunch?” Remus smiled before remembering that Alice was planning on telling Frank about the fact that he was a werewolf in the morning. None of them were going to want to miss that particular discussion.

“Alice knows about my furry-little-problem.” Remus said quietly.

“I know. Lily would have told her.” Sirius replied with a shrug, unconcerned.

“No. I mean _I_ told her. Today. She didn’t know.”

“That means…” Sirius blanched as he understood what Remus was trying to tell him.

“She took it really well. She was very understanding. In fact, I now have both her personal allegiance and support, like you have Augusta’s.” Sirius winced. That would go down well with Frank.

“She is going to tell him in the morning. I figured we all are going to need to be here for this one.” Remus left it at that and spread himself out on the second sofa in the room, covering himself over with a muttered ‘goodnight.’ Sirius was now certain that whatever had happened between them this morning had been a _thing_ but, was honestly too shocked over the newest development to dwell on it. Merlin tomorrow was going to be a corker.

O_o_O_o_O

She was regretting getting rid of her single malt. She needed a stiff drink after the day she’d had. Minerva McGonagall was past angry and heading straight into Scottish rage mode. Albus had kept her busy all day and as such; she’d had no time to visit Oxford to pass on her information. As she prepared herself for bed, she promised herself that she would call first thing in the morning. She was glad it was a weekend.


	3. Creaking Wheels

**Here's chapter three folks! Let me know what you think :)**

* * *

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Three – Creaking Wheels

He wasn’t sure what had happened between the two of them, the previous morning, but he knew that whatever it was; had caused something to shift in their relationship. Remus had been acting awfully _odd_ since their discussion on the bridge and Sirius, in truth; was worried. He had shaken it off the day before, needing to deal with Frank before worrying about anything else, but now? Now he couldn’t ignore it for much longer.

“We need to talk about what happened yesterday.” He said softly, not wanting to wake Harry or the Longbottoms. It was still early. Too early for the sun to have risen yet but he’d heard Remus’s breathing change about an hour ago, and knew that the werewolf had woken from a bad dream. It hadn’t been a nightmare; he hadn’t screamed or moaned, but the gasp that he had woken with, and the heavy breathing which had followed told Sirius that it had been unpleasant. “I know you’re awake Moony.” He said, when he didn’t get an answer. Amusement graced his lips with a smile as the man’s breath hitched.

“Now is not the time Pads.” Remus reluctantly replied, knowing that Sirius would not call a third time. “We _will_ have that conversation but not today.”

“Did I hurt you?” Sirius asked, running back over their interaction in his head. “With what I said yesterday?”

“It doesn’t matter Padfoot.”

“It _does_ to me. I need you Remus. If we’re going to go through with this plan then I need you by my side as we do.”

“And you will always have me Sirius.” Remus replied. He meant every word. Even if Sirius didn’t understand _why_ ; he knew that he would be at his mate’s side, whatever they went through. Moony saw Padfoot as the Alfa, he always had, and that meant that as the mate of an Alfa he would be by Sirius’s side for the rest of their lives. He could do no less. “I’m here to stay.”

“I know Moony.” But he _didn’t_ know, Remus thought bitterly. “You’re my best friend.” He had never wanted to rant and rave at Sirius any more than he did in that moment and if it hadn’t been for his personal promise to be a complete bastard and drop it out in front of Arcturus the next week, he would have explained to Sirius there and then how ludicrous that statement was. It was only fair that he got to play games too. Sirius could spin the ‘best friends’ tale any which way he wanted, but he had been deluding himself for years now. They both had.

“Have you given any more thought on what to do about Minerva?” He asked, desperate for a change of discussion.

“I have no idea.” The man replied with a sigh, not pleased at his friend’s avoidance, but satisfied at least that whatever had happened yesterday had passed between them. “I don’t like the idea of her being in that castle around the old coot. Especially _alone_.”

“I think I might have a solution.” Remus replied, unsure of how to pitch his idea. “However, it could be dangerous and I honestly don’t know if Dumbledore would go for it.”

“What are you thinking?”

“One of us joins Hogwarts as staff.” He replied, amusement rising in his chest at the deafening silence that fell over them.

“Moony are you completely crazy?” Sirius hissed, after the shock had passed (it took a while). “Joining the staff up there would put us in direct danger of Dumbledore. Don’t you think our current plan is bat-shit insane enough before adding a completely _new_ level of danger to it?”

“It makes sense to have a wage coming in if we are going to adopt a small child.” Remus replied calmly. It had been something he had been toying with in his mind for a while. After spending time in Minerva’s mind, and catching glimpses of how dangerous the old coot really was, he knew that she’d either need protecting or removing from the castle.

“We won’t need one if we’re going to my grandfather.” Sirius replied. It would look suspicious if we were after a wage, as well as leeching from the Black family.”

“Then we don’t tell Dumbledore how close you are to the Blacks. We spin it that, although you have been in touch with Arcturus, you refuse to accept any money that comes from bloodstained hands, and the manor in which we are bound to be accommodated in can become Arcturus’s way of keeping an _eye_ on you, lest you go running off again. We spin it that you are moving to take over as head of the Black family to assist the light. A Gryffindor Black, in a nest of snakes.”

“Before we even contemplate this, we have to get it approved by old Arc.” Sirius said. “It might end up being nipped in the bud before it’s even got off the ground, so we need a back-up, and fast.” Remus had known that his mate would likely reject the idea at first glance, but the seed had been planted in the Black’s brain, and he knew that Sirius was prone to brooding over such matters. He saw Hogwarts in their future. For now, though he would go along with Sirius’s insistence of a back-up. It was only logical that they plan for any eventuality.

O_o_O_o_O

Minerva felt her stomach roll as she pressed the muggle buzzer that would allow her access to the doghouse. Her visit with Augusta, some weeks before, had been her first, but certainly not her last, and she had become a regular visitor to the Oxford residence as she worked with Remus to restore her mindscape. There was no denying that Dumbledore had done a number on her, and as she was piecing it back together, she found herself growing more furious with the man she had grown to trust. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that as a school girl, he had turned her head. Like girls all over the world she had found herself with an attraction to one of her teachers. A charismatic man with a head full of striking auburn hair and intelligent enough to keep up with her, even at that age.

As a girl she had never even considered marriage. She found most men dull and boring, and often, about intelligent as flobberworms. But Albus had been different. He had been her first fancy and though she _had_ ended up marrying; back in her younger years, she had always held a small flame for the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

That flame had been extinguished as soon as she had found out that he had been in her head. She had come to the realisation that although he’d turned down the most powerful position in their world, Dumbledore was in the most dangerous position he could be in. It had allowed him to breed all but a handful of their population to look up to, admire and most dangerously; to _trust_ him. She felt sick.

“Hello professor.” Remus greeted as he opened the door to the building, allowing her entry and leading her up to their flat. “Sirius has breakfast on the go if you would care for something to eat.” She felt her stomach roll again.

“Just some black tea for me thank you Mr Lupin.” Her smile was tight and she started to press her lips together, as if she was afraid that her small meal of toast from the Hogwarts elves would make a sudden reappearance. “I have something to share with you both that might influence how you proceed with your next moves.” She said, raising the curiosity of the werewolf as they finally reached the door to their apartment. He quirked an eyebrow but was silent as he let her in, leading her into the kitchen; where Alice was already feeding Neville a small bowl of oatmeal, rather messily. She smiled at Harry who was sat in his own highchair and patiently waiting his turn as Neville seemed to enjoy getting both himself, and his mother coated in his sticky breakfast.

She took a seat and exchanged pleasantries with the young mother; all the while fearing the conversation she was about to have. When Remus appeared with a mug of black tea and a knowing smile, the scot felt herself finally ease. They would get through this, she thought. They’d been through so much already; she was positive that this would be just one more hurdle for them to overcome. She had no doubt that they would.

Half an hour later and the room was full of life, French toast having been passed out to all those present and fresh tea brewed and sat on a tray, in easy reach of anyone who needed a top up.

“You have something to discuss.” Sirius started, leaning back in his chair at the dining table and crossing his legs. He really was a picture of pureblood elegance; unmovable and aloof.

“It concerns the prophecy.” She said slowly, deciding that it was better to get it out in the open, rather than beating around the bush.

“The one with the power to defeat the dark lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.” Sirius recited. “Yes, we’ve of heard it.”

“I believe it to be a fake.” She said, wincing as she expected an imminent explosion and frowning in confusion when all that occurred was a look passing between Remus and Sirius.

“We already know.” Remus explained gently. “Or at least we suspected. We would appreciate if you could tell us why you believe the same. You may know something that we don’t.”

“I found a memory.” She said hesitantly, attempting to dig the scene from her mind and bring it to the forefront. “Severus was there, the night the prophecy was leaked.”

“We suspected that it was either him or the rat that had leaked it.” Remus said with a nod. “After Halloween I think we all assumed that it was the rat.”

“He regretted it.” Minerva replied. “As soon as he had done it. He knew that Lily had been gifted with Harry, and he came to see me. He asked for my help.”

“He had some cheek in doing so.” Frank muttered.

“He was scared.” Sirius butted in, glancing at Minerva. “He would have been terrified for not only his life but the life of Lily as well. Going against the Dark Lord means death, and he knew that his fate would be execution at least, if he returned to Voldemort, retracting his information.”

“He knew that it was a fake.” Minerva continued, agreeing completely with everything Sirius had said. “He’d caught Dumbledore and Trelawney in the process of her interview and he knew what Albus had done.”

“Then why leak it?” Remus asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It does if Dumbledore has been in your memories.” She replied. “Severus is one of the best occlumens I have seen in many a generation, I suspect that he broke through at least an obliviate and a compulsion. But he wasn’t making sense, and before I could piece together what he was saying we were caught by Dumbledore.”

“So, Snape is as much Dumbledore’s puppet as he is Voldemort’s.” Sirius said with a sigh. “I hate to say this but I believe we have no other choice but to approach him. If what you suspect is right, then it sounds like the old coot has done a number on him.”

“He might not have joined the ‘Eaters of his own accord.” Remus said quietly. Sirius snorted loudly at that and shook his head.

“No, I fully believe that he had every intention of joining the Dark Lord, I just don’t think he quite realised what he’d signed up for. I think he ended up going to Dumbles for help and got more than he bargained for on that end too.”

“If we can come to an agreement then it would give us the pair of eyes in the castle that we have been looking for.”

“Are you planning on replacing me Mr Lupin?” Minerva asked with a raised eyebrow at the subsequent blush that had appeared on the werewolf’s cheeks.

“No ma’am.” He said. “We are just worried about you being so close to Dumbledore, and figured that the best way to protect you…”

“Would be to join the staff yourselves, or at least canvas the rest of us to acquire me a babysitter. Have you gone completely mad Mr Lupin or is it just the time of the month that is affecting your faculties?” Alice choked on the tea that she had unfortunately just sipped and Sirius burst out into laughter at the sight of it spraying from her nose. Remus had gone beet red and Frank just looked painfully confused. She figured they’d yet to have that conversation with the Longbottoms and was interested to see how it would end up playing out.

“I assure you Minnie that my faculties are indeed intact. We would never dream of hiring you a babysitter. Think of Severus becoming more like a bodyguard.”

“I can look after myself thank you very much.” Minerva bristled. “I’m not past it yet you know.”

“We know.” Sirius butted in after he’d helped Alice mop up the spilt tea from the table. “But Dumbledore has been in your mind before without you knowing. We’d just feel better if we knew that you were going to be safe up there.”

“None of us are safe Mr Black.” She said softly; painfully reminding herself that these were still young men. Men who had already seen war, and suffered losses to it. Men who were barely in their twenties and now planning a near on suicide mission in order to keep the rest of their small family safe. To keep _her_ safe. “It is very nice of you both to consider me in you schemes. I will accept what measures you deem necessary to keep me safe, with the exception of any of the people in this room joining the staff at Hogwarts. Your main priority should be Harry and Neville. Not an old tabby cat like me.”

“We won’t join the staff.” Sirius said, shaking his head. “Nor will we allow you to return to the castle after Christmas without sufficient protection. You are one of our main priorities too professor. You are family, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose you to some old codger who is one gobstone short of a full set.” She felt herself choke up and pushed the feeling away before she made a fool of herself.

“That is very gallant of you Mr Black.” She said softly; her eyes suspiciously wet. The room fell quiet and Remus figured that now was as good a time as any to change the subject. He swallowed heavily and glanced at Alice, who gave the subtlest of nods.

“There is something else we need to tell you.”

O_o_O_o_O

Arcturus Black was a powerful man. A man of influence and political prowess. He prided himself on being at least three steps ahead of everyone else in the room, and he wielded his intelligence like a sword. Three steps ahead of everyone else and yet; he had failed to foresee this.

“Maybe the runt is leading you on a merry chase. He’s a Dumbledore man Arcturus, you lost him years ago.”

“And whose fault is that?” He snapped, glaring at his visitor. “It was your daughter and her hatred that caused all of this. At least my son had the good sense to back off when he did. You have filled Walburga’s head with delusions Pollux, and we lost the heir to the Black family because of it.”

“The runt will never be head.” Pollux Black sneered; his cold silver eyes flashing maliciously. “He is for the light. The family magic will never accept him for what he’s done.” A malicious grin formed on his face, and if it wasn’t for the spells protecting his study Arcturus would have quite happily cursed it off.

“You’re forgetting _cousin_ that the time he spent at the Potter’s was spent under your sister’s watchful eye. Both of your sisters have been the best of us, and I cannot ignore the fact that Dorea cared for him in a time when we couldn’t.”

“Dorea was a soft-hearted fool! Surely you have heard the rumour of what she did for Lily Potter?” Arcturus shot up from his desk to tower over the smaller man.

“No one can ever find out what happened that night.” He hissed. “Swear to me that what she did or did not do will remain between us. Swear to me!” Triumph flashed in the smaller man’s eyes at his outburst, but he was past caring. There was information in this world that was not meant for sharing or gossiping about, and the fated night of Dorea Potter’s death was one such example. He would allow Pollux this small victory if it meant keeping a child safe, and he watched as the man cut his hand and gave the enchantment, binding them both in a vow of silence. His attention turned back to his desk and the open letter resting upon the cherry wood. “Now for the matter of our grandson.” He said, sitting back down and conceding that the discussion of Dorea was over. “I intend to invite him to meet on Wednesday. That gives all of us three days with which to prepare ourselves for what is to come.”

“You cannot possibly be serious Arcturus!” Pollux cried flying from his chair to pace the study. “He will drive this house into the ground and you know it!”

“Sirius has much to learn, I have never denied that. Again, it is down to the failings of our own children, and as such, it is the responsibility of _us_ to ensure he learns what he needs to know. He speaks of information that may be useful going forwards. I have never followed the dark lord, and I have no intentions of following Dumbledore either. Both the light _and_ dark sects have much to answer for in regards to the state of our world and I intend for our house to be at the forefront of any political changes that are about to happen. I also intend for it to be Sirius who is charged with the running of this family. I will not hear another word against this, as it is _my_ decision to make as current head of this house.”

“You will ruin us all.”

“Then stay out of my way, or I will ruin _you_ first.” Arcturus replied, stalking over to throw a handful of Floo powder into the fire. “Toujours Pur.” He said; reciting the customary greeting. Pollux glared at him before repeating the phrase and stepping through the fire. He promptly shut down all access to the manor and grabbed Sirius’s letter on his way out of his study. He needed to talk to his wife.

O_o_O_o_O

“So, you believe Snape can be trusted?” She asked her friend, filling up their glasses and leaning back into the tartan armchair. Minerva’s rooms had always been cosy and homely and the warm fire and the good scotch kept them comfortable as the northern storm whipped past the windows. Things had gone as smoothly as they could have down in Oxford, and when Minerva had announced that she was departing, just after lunch; the Longbottom matriarch had invited herself along to Hogwarts.

“As much as one _could_ trust a spy.” Was her friend’s dry answer. “I certainly believe he should be brought into our confidence in regards to Dumbledore. Anything else can come later.”

“What about the point I raised earlier? Would that make things easier?”

“Let him believe that Arcturus has been turned, and that it is him who is providing the instructions, rather than Sirius? I think it’s a risky plan if he finds out the truth, and one which you will have to take to the Lord Black before implementing. I am in no immediate danger and this will have to be planned with no small amount of finesse.”

“I rather think that both Sirius and Remus would disagree with you. We all believe you are in danger Minnie. I certainly would feel better, knowing that you are protected up here.”

“None of you have put forward the suggestion that I resign.” Minerva stated rather than asked.

“Is it something you have considered?” And there it was. The crux of the matter. Yes, she was in a precarious position where she was; being so close to Dumbledore would put anyone in danger, but she was also in the one place she could do the most good.

“I could.” She finally admitted after not so small of a pause. “If it works within the best interests of all of us. I have lived a long life Augusta. I am not afraid of death, and I’m not afraid of Dumbledore. What I _am_ afraid of is not being where I’m most needed, and most useful. I have already failed Harry once. I fear of repeating that mistake if I stay here.” Augusta found herself giving her response some serious thought. Her friend had been through hell over the past few weeks, and she wanted to make sure that she didn’t end up pushing her to making an impulsive decision.

“I think we will all need a cooling off period before we start to make any choices that are going to affect not just our family, but those around us. We have always said that being Headmaster is Dumbledore’s most dangerous position; what better way can we counteract it than having you here to undo some of the work he puts in? I know that Sirius and Remus haven’t mentioned your resignation because they honestly don’t think that you would ever do it. You are loyal to a fault Minnie; you always have been; and I don’t believe for a second that your loyalty to this school is capable of wavering. Yes, Dumbledore is in a position of strength, but so are you.”

“They have plans for me.”

“I honestly don’t know. I know that if they do, you will be approached before any of those plans are put into place. They respect you too much to ever betray your trust Minerva, and they are no longer boys.”

“No, I suppose they aren’t.” They both took another mouthful from their respective glasses and allowed the evening to draw on, their attentions turning to the potential fate of Harry and Neville.

O_o_O_o_O

“That all went relatively well I thought.” Sirius whispered as they readied themselves to settle down for the night. They were once again on different settees and he knew that another discussion with Remus was on the cards. It would seem that he had hurt his friend more than he had realised.

“The plans we have made, or his reaction to my condition?” Said werewolf asked, amber eyes shining in the semi-darkness of the room.

“Both.” It was true that things had gone much smoother than he had anticipated. Frank had shaken his hand, thanking him for trusting him with his secret; after a small moment of shock of course, and Alice had been sneaking knowing smirks at him all day. It would seem as though both of them would have to get used to having the Longbottom women around the house. Augusta had journeyed to Hogwarts with Minerva and had reappeared a couple of hours later; reassured in their friend’s loyalty and safety. At least between Augusta and Alice, things wouldn’t get boring. A silence fell over them, not uncomfortable, but certainly different than before. “I’m sorry I hurt you Remus.” Sirius whispered; breaking it, and cursing himself for doing so when his friend’s breath hitched. There was a pregnant pause, both of them holding their breath to see what happened next. A sigh escaped Remus’s chest the Black knew he was forgiven.

“It’s okay Sirius.” Remus knew that the hurt caused by what had happened between them would still take time to disappear, but he also knew that it wasn’t Sirius’s fault for being completely oblivious. The Black family had a lot to answer for in regards to his friend’s emotional development and he knew that it would take a sit down and some balls from him to get through the idiot’s thick skull.

The night dragged on, silent and black, and it was only when he heard Sirius’s breathing even out, did he finally close his eyes to escape to his dreams.

O_o_O_o_O

Albus Dumbledore was a powerful man. A man of influence and political prowess. He prided himself on being at least three steps ahead of everyone else in the room, and he wielded his intelligence like a sword. All of his pawns were lining up in their correct positions. Harry Potter was safe in the muggle world, hidden from the eyes of anyone who might question the child rearing skills of one Petunia Dursley. Sirius Black was back in Oxford with his pet wolf, licking the wounds of Halloween, and the Longbottoms had appeared to have gone underground ever since their Yorkshire manor was attacked. They hadn’t even appeared at the trial, and he doubted whether they would ever show their faces in Britain again.

He had been there, earlier that day; when the Longbottom Bear had flared and bowed; dulling the house’s Wizengamot seat until an heir dared return to these shores. All that was left was to manoeuvre the rest of the grey houses into obscurity. Amelia Bones had yet to take up her seat after the death of her brother and his wife, and he could quite easily have her take over the DMLE, pushing her into a ministry seat and denying the greys another three votes. Yes, things were moving nicely towards his end goal and he still had a decade before his queen arrived in Hogwarts. It would be a shame for his prized piece to have to die, but as he had learned over many years; sometimes a piece would have to be sacrificed for the greater good.

O_o_O_o_O

“This is your decision to make my love.” She said softly, rubbing her husband’s shoulders as he stared at the piece of parchment before him. “You can either believe this letter is a fake, or you can’t. If you believe it _is_ then burn it, forget about it and leave them all to stew in the stench of their own making, otherwise write to them and go ahead with your meeting. There is nothing stopping you kicking them out of the front door if on Wednesday you believe this to be a lie.”

“Of all the things Sirius is, and has been; not once has he ever lied to me. If this is fake, then it is Dumbledore’s doing and not our grandson’s.” Following his meeting with Pollux, earlier that day, he had made a point of seeking his wife out. She always gave the best advice. The wider wizarding world had always believed that the Black males were some of the most powerful people in their country, but in truth it was the women of the Black family; both born and married into, that were the real intelligence behind the house. Black’s didn’t marry for looks or power; their ancestors had chosen the most intelligent spouses of their time, regardless of the house or sect they came from; and the likes of Ursula Flint and Hesper Gamp had helped build the house into what it was today, all the while working through their husbands.

“Then you already have your answer.” Melania replied. She was his rock and anchor in his duties as house lord, and contrary to popular belief, she knew more about the running of the family than anyone but him.

“My love, if this really _is_ the truth, and not just some ploy from Dumbledore; then it is not just our house that is in danger, but our entire world. Our way of life has already been endangered by that man, and if this is the lengths he is going to go to, then I fear for what the next few years are going to bring.” She finally moved to take a seat on the other side of his desk and she reached out to clasp his hands in hers and squeeze them reassuringly.

“I don’t believe for a second that our grandson has not already started to plan. Remus Lupin is no slouch either and I am positive that there are already things in motion that he hasn’t mentioned in that letter. They already have a good support network around them Arcturus; but _we_ can provide them with the protection they need to see those plans through. Yes, our world is in danger; but when have we put anyone first before family?”

“Toujours Pur.”

“Exactly my love. Family before anything else. Now come to bed, you’re going to need the sleep for what is to come.”

O_o_O_o_O

Whilst the wheels of power were starting to creak into motion, there was one couple who were desperate for things to remain unchanged on their side of the great divide. The small bundle, deposited into their arms three weeks prior; was precious beyond their comprehension. Or so they had been told. That this bundle contained a pair of purple eyes and a head full of black curls, told them that this child would need to be hidden from the _other_ side for as long as possible.

Daniel Granger was the brother in law of one Ted Tonks, and he and his wife were now in possession of one of five children, born with Fate’s favour and born as a true-blood Black. One of five children; destined to either save the world, or to end it.


	4. Gambits and Gambles

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Four – Gambits and Gambles

It was said that each time a Black was born, Magic herself would draw straws with both Fate _and_ Chance, and the loser would get to choose the destiny of each child. Well, Fate had been on a bit of a losing streak as of late, and as such _five_ children; all born with Black blood and all born over the course of the early 80s (that is the 1980s of course); had been chosen by her to lead the world into a new age. Little under 20 years from then; the turn of the millennium had been set as the date where the future of the earth would be decided, and Fate knew that she needed the upper hand. Leaving things to Chance saw lives lost and eternities burn; and she had seen so many of them during her existence.

Now you may think that this story would be centred around these five children. That it would be documented how the future of the world would be decided, and how eternity either saved or lost. You would be right. But, to understand how these children came to be, we must first look at the man who started the journey. The man who was at the epicentre for the largest gambit Fate had ever attempted to achieve. The man who, not only took these children under his wing, but who shaped each and every one of them into the people they needed to be.

_This_ story; is a about a man. A man named Sirius Black, whose straw had been drawn a little shorter than Fate had intended.

O_o_O_o_O

The Black estate had always been vast. From the very beginnings of the house, each had curried favour with nobles and gained powerful allies both politically and financially. Every Black born, and every outsider who married into the house, had brought with them their own wealth and intelligence, and soon the Blacks had become one of the most influential families in the world. Whilst most of the foreign branches of the family had intermarried themselves to extinction (the family motto having been taken a little _too_ literally); the British line of Blacks still survived, albeit barely. This meant that the lord and head was the wealthiest and most influential figure in Britain, possibly in the world; with that title being passed down from Black to Black until we arrive at the man this leg of our story is set around. A man, who was currently over an hour early to a meeting he himself had arranged.

“Stop fidgeting Sirius.” Remus hissed as his mate wrung his hands for the third time in the last twenty minutes. They were each dressed to the nines, Sirius having picked up the tab for both of their dress robes; and they were absolutely shitting themselves. The Black manor had always been imposing, the Lord’s study even more so; but it was the prospect of their imminent meeting that was causing Sirius to lose said proverbial shit, and Remus was trying his hardest to keep his mate from turn-tailing it back to Oxford.

“I can’t help it.” The young Black replied; shifting in his seat. “Why isn’t he here yet?”

“Because we’re an hour and a half early and any sane person would still be having their breakfast at this hour. I told you that we should have waited.” Any cutting reply Sirius was about to make died on his tongue as the door was opened without warning. It had shown a great amount of trust in them, to leave them alone in the Lord’s study without the presence of said Lord; and neither of them were in any doubts as to whether the portraits were reporting back their movements to Arcturus.

“So, gentlemen, now that we are all settled and have had time to ingest some caffeine, shall we get down to why we are all here?” Arcturus Black was nothing if not commanding. Though short in stature, his wide shoulders more than made up the difference; heralding back to his younger days, and a successful duelling career. The famous silver eyes of the Black family looked well on his handsome features, and Remus could see that Sirius, rather mercifully had inherited many of his characteristics from his father’s side. With long black hair; swept back into a neat bun at the nape of his neck, and a set of black and gold robes; Arcturus Black certainly knew how to make an impression.

“We apologise my Lord for intruding on your morning.” Sirius said with a courteous bow; both of them having instantly shot to their feet when the Head of House Black had entered the room. The man waved them both back into their seats, taking his own on the other side of the huge cherry-wood desk.

“I figured you’d be here early Sirius and rose accordingly this morning. It is no trouble.” Sirius sat back down, only when his grandfather was seated and bowed his head in acknowledgement. “Now, shall we get down to business? Your letter painted a rather disturbing view, and one which I have yet to consider. Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me everything you know so far?” Sirius glanced at the werewolf at his side, something which did not go unnoticed by the Black lord and cleared his throat.

“In the early months of 1980, a prophecy was made by Sybil Trelawney to Albus Dumbledore. The wording of it is shaky but it stipulated that a child, born at the end of July would destroy the Dark Lord.”

“The wording?” Arcturus asked, taking out a quill and a piece of parchment. Sirius nodded to his mate; giving Remus reassurance that it was okay to address his head of house.

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...” Arcturus copied the wording down and rolled the parchment up, sealing it with black wax before stamping it with his ring.

“Nip!” He barked, making the pair of marauders jump. A house elf apparated in with a crack and bowed before him. “Take this to Cassiopeia Black, see that she receives it in secret and tell her that I want her thoughts on this by Monday at the latest.”

“Yes my Lord Black.” Nip replied, popping back out. Sirius knew that however secret they wanted the prophecy to remain; to question his grandfather on this matter was folly, so he shook off his unease, cleared his throat again and continued with his story.

“Part of the prophecy was somehow overheard by Severus Snape, who went on to leak it to the Dark Lord. Voldemort decided to target both the Potters and the Longbottoms, as Harry and Neville could have potentially fit the prophecy. Both families retreated under Fidelus Charms, the Potters to Godric’s Hollow and the Longbottoms to The Arboretum.”

“And who were the secret keepers?” Arcturus asked, continuing to note things down on parchment as Sirius led him through the sordid tale.

“Peter Pettigrew for the Potters and Madame Augusta for the Longbottoms.”

“Why weren’t you a candidate?”

“I was. It was thought that Peter would have been the least conspicuous target, and the switch was made at the last minute.” Sirius swallowed hard. The guilt that had been eating away at his insides wormed its way to the surface. His grandfather had paused; quill hovering above the parchment and then; with a sigh, those grey eyes, so similar to his own were looking at him in something he could not quite put his finger on.

“It’s not your fault Pads.” Remus said softly, grasping hold of his hand. “None of us were to know what Peter was. We all trusted each other. With everything.”

“Who talked you out of it?” Arcturus asked, fearing that he already knew the answer. Sirius frowned as he struggled to recall the conversation and subsequent debate with James.

“There was me, James, Lily, Peter and…”

“Dumbledore.” The Black Lord finished quietly. “You said in your letter that things were more dangerous in the light than what they seemed. Dumbledore has had his wand loose around too many people this time. My best guess is that he was the one who decided the secret keepers, not you or the Potters.” The pieces finally clicked into place and Sirius’s eyes narrowed. From that point he spilt everything they knew, or at least suspected. The prophecy having being faked, Minerva and Severus having been spelled into silence, Dumbledore leaving Harry on the Dursley’s doorstep; all of the information they had collected flooded out in one long tirade which finished with muttered insults towards the old man.

“So, your hatred towards the Headmaster is real.” Arcturus stated once Sirius had finished. He leant back in his chair, the now full pieces of parchment scattered around his desk and his eyes fixed on the pair in front of him. He could see the picture more clearly now than he had been able to in years. He could also see the bond between his grandson and the werewolf at his side. “What do you want from me?” He asked.

“I want to come home.” Was the almost whispered reply. “I want to be safe again. I want to keep Harry and Neville safe.”

“So, the Longbottoms agree with the choice you are making?”

“It hasn’t been easy to convince them.” Remus replied honestly, knowing that his mate needed a moment to think. “But we have done so, and they agree to follow our lead in the measures taken to keep the boys safe. I have the personal allegiance of Alice Longbottom, and Sirius has gained the same pledge from Augusta. Frank has renounced his headship of the house, passing the seat temporarily onto Neville with the intention of eventually deferring it to Sirius; as Steward of house Longbottom. We still have some concerns, going forwards but we strongly believe that this is our safest form of action.” Arcturus studied the werewolf for a few seconds, trusting in the proud posture, and the easy way Remus met his eyes. He also noted the way he still kept a grip on his grandson’s hand and his decision was already made.

“What is your relationship to my grandson?” He asked.

“He’s my best friend grandfather.”

“I wasn’t asking you boy.” He replied, shutting his grandson up instantly. “I was asking Wolf Lupin here.” Remus took a deep breath and figured that now was as good a time as any to grow some balls.

“Moony recognises Sirius as my life-mate and as my Alpha.” Remus said, ignoring Sirius’s intake of breath and pulling his hand away from the other man’s. He didn’t turn around to look at him, he didn’t want to see the disgust in Sirius’s eyes. “To me Sirius _is_ my best friend. The only one I have left.”

“I understand that wolves mate for life.”

“We do.” Arcturus hummed in satisfaction and shot a look at his grandson; who was looking more shocked by the second.

“Am I to take it that this is a discussion neither of you have had between yourselves?” Remus finally turned to look at his mate, dreading what Sirius would say when he finally snapped out of his shock.

“I tried to tell you Pads.” He whispered. “On the bridge last week. You blew me off so I assumed that my feelings for you run deeper than yours do for me. We’ve been kidding ourselves for months. Best friends don’t share a bed. Best friends don’t tell each other that they love each other. They don’t kiss each other good morning, or wrap each other in a hug at random moments. Being best friends doesn’t feel how I feel when I’m around you. I know that you don’t feel the same, and that’s okay. I meant it when I said I would never leave your side; Moony won’t let me anyway, but I can’t keep doing what we’re doing if you tell me you don’t feel the same.”

“Remus…” Sirius trailed off, trying and failing to string a sentence together in his head that didn’t make him sound like a compete twat.

“It would seem you have things to discuss between yourselves.” Arcturus said, when it was clear his grandson wasn’t going to continue any time soon. “I would be happy to welcome you into our family Remus. As my grandson’s mate, and as eventual regent, when Sirius takes up the headship. For now, you both should return to Oxford. Tell the Longbottoms that I am happy to welcome them into the family, and that if they wish to keep their allegiance to us secret, I would be happy for the Longbottom seat to remain dormant until young Neville comes of age. I assume you have other plans in place for the boys and I suspect that blood adoption will be on the cards soon enough. I give my permission for this to go ahead, and will happily accept both of them into the house of Black, and allow them to take up our name. Anything else can be sorted when you have had time to digest things between the pair of you.” He stood and both men recognised the dismissal and got to their feet.

“Thank you for your support Lord Black.” Remus said, giving a bow. “We will not fail you.” Arcturus smiled at that and nodded his head in acceptance of the werewolf’s service.

“Toujours Pur.” He recited, satisfied when his grandson automatically repeated the words back to him before he and his mate left.

Yes, the Black’s had always chosen their spouses well. It would seem as though Remus Lupin was set to continue that trend on his own terms.

O_o_O_o_O

Minerva found herself wondering how things were going between Sirius and his grandfather. A Parley between estranged Blacks was always a momentous occasion, and more often than not came to wands, if the stories were to be believed. She herself remembered the Parley between the three daughters of Cygnus and Druella Black. She had been one of the first wands on the scene, when the courtyard was warded to prevent stray spells from hitting the rest of the students.

Andromeda had been a demon against her two sisters that day, keeping up with Bellatrix and Narcissa as easily as any accomplished dueller, and showing that she was just as much of a Black as any of them. She remembered the purple starting to bleed into Andromeda’s eyes as the young metamorphagus became more enraged. She remembered Bellatrix’s giggle as she managed to hit her younger sister with a cutting curse, and she remembered how a shiver had gone up her spine at the sound that would, in future; haunt the battles between the light and the dark. It was quite clear how short Bellatrix’s straw had been drawn, even at the tender age of fifteen.

“You look worried.” She spun around at the voice and the light knock on the door of her classroom, only to find her long-time friend leaning against the door frame. “Should we be worried?”

“Ask Sybil.” Was her dry answer. She had protested the employing of the witch in the first place and now; knowing what she did, she detested even the sight of the woman who had come to apparently teach Divination at Hogwarts. Filius Flitwick stepped into her classroom, shut the door and waved his wand; clearing the portraits of their occupants.

“What’s going on Minnie?” He asked quietly. Minerva sighed and sat on the edge of her desk, not even bothering to notice her friend hopping up to sit on one of the student desks in front of her. “Tell me.”

“I can’t.” She said quietly. “I wish I could Filius, but I just cannot.”

“You are worried for the boy.” He stated rather than asked. “You looked disturbed when you returned to the castle at Halloween.” She nodded, allowing him to believe that Harry was still at the Dursley’s for his own sake as much as hers.

“Do you know that feeling when you think something terrible is about to happen?” She asked. “When you feel that something is wrong, in the pit of your stomach?”

“I believe in a witch’s intuition.” He replied with a shrug. “In the concern over a child, whether it’s hers by blood or not, a witch always seems to know when things are not as they should be. Believing in foresight however, would put me in danger of sounding like our good Divination professor.” Minerva snorted at that, and pushed the feeling away to the bottom of her stomach, swallowing hard and attempting to clear her mind. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.” Filius said quietly, his concern for her clear in his features. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“What would be the point?” She asked tiredly. “What has happened, has happened, and what will happen can’t be stopped. Voldemort is gone and we should all be celebrating our continued survival.”

“And yet you are left wondering why it feels so empty?” He asked, recognising the grief in her tone. “We lost people Minnie. All of us lost someone we cared for. But living for the dead will serve only to trap us in the past. I believe that Lily and James would want us to live for _ourselves_ rather than them. And, to live for their son. There is no telling what kind of life Harry will have before Hogwarts, so we must still be here to guide him when he comes back to us.”

“You sound like Albus.” She muttered tiredly, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn. Why was she so tired?

“I like to think I have my moments.” He replied, hopping back off the desk and resting his hand on her knee. “Get some sleep Minnie. The students need us, and we all need you.” She watched her friend leave and envied his ignorance. She checked her pocket watch and decided to miss dinner. She needed an early night.

O_o_O_o_O

Alice Longbottom liked to think of herself as a strong woman. She had come from a family fabled for its scandals and worked her way up in the ranks of wizarding status. The Longbottom name was a good one; strong politically with good solid allies and a wealth worthy of boasting about. Meanwhile the Prewett name which she had left behind was all but dead. Her male cousins (her only decent relatives) were dead and their sister had been married off to a Weasley. She missed Fabian and Gideon dearly, but she was glad of her non-association to their sister. Molly Prewett had been as vile as they came, and her arranged marriage into the Weasley family was more than she deserved. That she was a Dumbledore’s woman just compounded the hatred Alice felt for her and she was glad to have been able to shed her maiden name.

“Are you quite alright?” Augusta asked, taking a seat opposite her and pouring them some tea from her forgotten tray. She nodded and attempted to smile. It was weak at best and her mother-in-law offered her a knowing smile in return. “We should not worry. Arcturus is a reasonable man, and both of those young men have a good head on their shoulders.”

“I wasn’t thinking of them actually.” She admitted. “But now that you mention it…”

“Forget I did then.” Augusta butted in, waving her off. “Tell me instead what you _were_ thinking about.”

“My cousins.” She said quietly. “And how lucky I was to be accepted into your family. I know that the Prewetts haven’t the best reputation.”

“Did you know that my aunt married a Weasley?” Augusta asked, sipping her tea. “And Sirius’s immediate aunt on his father’s side married a Prewett. I know both of those families and my acceptance of you was based on none of my previous experience with them. I accepted you because you love my Frank, and you make him happy. If I judged you for your family, I would be nothing but a hypocrite. My grandmother was a Yaxley, and her mother was a Flint. It was only my mother’s marriage to my father that moved us from out under the Black name; my great grandfather after all, was Phineas Nigellus.”

“I hadn’t known that.”

“And now that you do, does it make the slightest bit of difference?”

“No. No of course not.”

“There you go then. Stop worrying about what might have come of you and start worrying about what might still come of you. Of all of us. There are difficult times ahead my child and we will need to stick together if we are to navigate our way through them smoothly.”

“Do you think what we are doing is right?” Alice asked. She had made her mind up the night the idea was raised, but it would be good to hear it from Augusta. After all, Frank still had his doubts and had no issues in voicing them to her, regularly.

“I think we are doing what is best.” The older woman replied with a shrug. “Whether it is right remains to be seen, but I believe that as long as we stick together, and stick with Sirius and Remus; we won’t sail too far from reason.” Alice blew out a sigh of relief and finally took a sip of her tea.

Yes, she was a strong woman but, it felt nice to be reassured every once in a while.

O_o_O_o_O

She could feel something changing within her family. Her father had been edgy when he had arrived for dinner that night, and she had never seen her father edgy unless he’d had a tongue-lashing from her grandfather. Pollux was an unpleasant man, and she admired her father for putting up with the Lord’s peacocking and temper tantrums for so long. She’d noted that her father’s behaviour hadn’t gone unnoticed by her husband either, and she wondered what had happened to cause such ripples in her family.

“We need to talk.” She nodded and shut down the Floo by which Abraxas Malfoy had just departed and Cygnus Black followed her through the manor into one of the private sitting rooms. Lucius was asleep on one of the settees; their son snoring into his chest, and she had been left to entertain both her father _and_ Abraxas whilst father and son slept through the after-dinner drinks. She couldn’t find it in herself to resent her husband for his rest, Merlin knew that they both needed it, but she had wished that they’d waited another couple of weeks before hosting their respective fathers for dinner. She shook her husband gently on the shoulder and he awoke almost instantly; glancing towards Cygnus and sitting up, taking care not to disturb their notoriously light-sleeper of a son.

“What’s happened?” He asked. “Has news of our Lord finally reached your ears?” Cygnus shook his head and took a seat, gesturing for Narcissa to do the same.

“I had a visit from my father two days ago. There is something happening within the Black family which could change the tide of this war.”

“What is it father?” Narcissa asked, reaching out to take one of his hands upon seeing how this news had affected him. “Tell us what’s wrong.”

“Arcturus Black hosted a Parley today.” Her face drained of colour and she noted her husband’s complexion matching hers. There were several estranged Blacks with whom their lord could Parley with, but only one would cause this much upset in both her father and grandfather.

“Sirius.” She whispered. Cygnus nodded gravely.

“Though he was never officially disowned, he has lived apart from the family for long enough to be considered estranged. It was with him Arcturus met today, and your grandfather believes that Sirius is making a move back to the family.”

“Crawling back with his tail between his legs now that his best friends are dead.” Lucius snarled; shifting his son in his arms. “This is Dumbledore’s doing. I would bet that Sirius intends to hand the Black estate over to the light’s war effort.”

“Is that true father?” Narcissa asked. “Is that what he intends?”

“I’m not entirely sure my child.” He replied softly to his youngest daughter. “If it is; he has gone a funny way about it. Arcturus can sniff a lie from a hundred marks away, and Sirius is claiming that Dumbledore has been using _compulsion_ charms on his own troops, going as far as to _obliviate_ Minerva McGonagall on several occasions.”

“The mutt is lying.” Lucius hissed. “It makes no sense for him to do either of those things when his followers flock to him in their droves.”

“Yes it does.” Narcissa replied. “If he has done something to lose McGonagall, or if what Sirius is claiming is correct then he will have lost two of his biggest supporters. It only takes one of them to break through his spells and his whole house of cards folds. If this is true father then Dumbledore has made a huge mistake; and Sirius re-joining the family could be the very thing that ends this war.” Cygnus considered his daughter’s words carefully. He hadn’t looked at it from that angle yet. He had been too busy worrying that this was all just some ruse; his thoughts going in a similar direction to his son-in-law’s; and his concerns fuelled by his father’s paranoia. Clearly the meeting between Pollux and Arcturus had not ended well at the weekend, and he wondered just what had happened between the two senior figures of the family.

“This is a folly.” Lucius hissed again. “Surely you can’t believe this Narcissa?”

“I don’t know what to believe.” She admitted. “I just know that _if_ this is true, then we may be getting a visit from my house lord.”

“I will send word if I find out when that will happen.” Her father said, leaning over to cup her cheek and kiss her forehead. “Try not to worry my child. Things will smooth themselves over, and this may be no more that your grandfather’s famous temper.” She nodded and rose to show him out, her mind already running in a million different ways, trying to decipher what this might mean for her immediate family. The Blacks had always put family before anything else, and her marriage to Lucius hadn’t _exactly_ been well received by her head of house; who claimed that the Malfoys were nothing but jumped-up goat herders who had been chased out of France with their tails between their legs.

To be fair to Arcturus; that statement was almost completely factually correct.

O_o_O_o_O

When the knock on his door came; it was not unexpected, but it was certainly inconvenient. He placed the _stasis_ charm over his cauldron, making sure it held before stalking to the door to his quarters and wrenching it open, ready to chew out the person who dared to interrupt him whilst brewing. It was a shock to the system though when instead of an unruly student, out of bed after curfew; he instead found his colleague and former professor standing in the dungeon corridor.

“Professor McGonagall.” He greeted, quickly conquering his shock and stepping aside to invite her into his chambers.

“How many times have I asked you to call me Minerva?” She asked, making herself at home on one of his settees. “I have something to discuss with you. Something of great importance and security.” He finally found it in him to shut the door and move over to his living area, offering her a drink and raising an eyebrow when she curtly refused.

“How may I be of assistance?” He asked, taking a seat in the armchair opposite her and leaning back to study her tired face. She hadn’t been sleeping. He noted. Had any of them though? Really? The lead up to and subsequent fall out of Halloween had hit all of them hard; and he had not yet had a night where he had managed to sleep all the way through without waking from a nightmare at least once.

“I have something to show you, and I want to trust you to enter my mind to look at it.”

“What is it?” He asked, more out of interest than courtesy.

“A memory of a discussion, between you and I. A discussion that took place six months ago.”

“And, why may I ask does that require my entering your mind?”

“Because I believe it may have been taken from you without your knowledge.”

“The dark lord does not enter minds simply to take a few memories.” Severus snorted, amused at her ignorance. “He enters minds to _shred_ them. Being in front of him is like playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded pistol. I assure you that if he’d been anywhere near my memories; I wouldn’t be sat in front of you now.”

“I wasn’t referring to _your_ lord.” She replied, dropping all pretences in regards to his mark. “I was talking about mine.” The pieces fell into place and Severus growled. “Dumbledore has been inside my head Severus. And, I believe he’s been inside yours as well.” He nodded his acknowledgement and asked if she was ready. “Be gentle. I have only just rebuilt my shields.” He nodded again and easily slipped into her mindscape; arriving in a large field, a farmhouse sitting in the distance.

“This is where you grew up.” He noted and she appeared next to him, nodding to confirm his theory. They set off through the barley; heading for the farmhouse, and she opened the door, allowing them both access. “This is Lupin’s work.” He stated, noting each level of her mindscape and recognising its subsequent protections. “The field is full of mines; the garden is full of deadly plants and the door has some ridiculous booby trap upon it that could have only been concocted by the mind of a prankster.” She neither confirmed nor denied his allegations, only leading him deeper into the cottage, taking him up the stairs and into her childhood bedroom. She opened her closet and pulled out a vial from the top shelf, handing it to him and nodding towards a pensive on her dresser top. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak as he poured out the memory and entered the dish.

Five minutes later and they were both back in the land of the living, and his quarters at Hogwarts. He sprang up from his chair and stalked over to his liquor cabinet, pouring himself three fingers of brandy and throwing it back in one hit. “What do you want me to do with this information?” He asked; once his nerves had been calmed and his anger had abated.

“Keep it to yourself, but use it to fix what is wrong within your own memories.” She replied. “I have a plan, and I have allies who are moving into some very powerful positions. You will receive a visit next week and receive your instructions, from now until then; keep this to yourself. It puts more than just you or I at risk.” With those final words she stood and let herself out of his apartment, leaving him with the task of fixing his mindscape. Brewing would have to wait.

O_o_O_o_O

Amelia looked down upon the small bundle in her arms. Little Susan was happily sucking on the tit of her bottle, staring up at her aunt with huge blue eyes, unaware that she was now an orphan of war. Looking after her niece had certainly been a learning curve for her, and it was staring into those blue eyes that made her miss her brother terribly. It was clear from the few wisps of ginger hair and the little upturn at the end of her nose, that Susan had inherited many characteristics from her father, and Amelia had no doubt that the resemblance would grow stronger with age.

She had moved them both into the Ossuary; the ancestral home of the Bones family last week, and she had started to contemplate on how far into the house politics she was going to have to throw herself. She loved her job, and there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she was good at it. Her quandary now stemmed from the knowledge that if she made the cut for the Director’s job, she would lose the house seat in favour of a ministry one; taking a cut of two votes, whilst limiting her on what she _could_ actually vote on.

She had always wanted to make the world a better place; but she was finding that the ministry was releasing the criminals faster than the aurors could arrest them, and she had to consider the possibility of her being able to do more good within the Wizengamot if she held her house’s seat. For her niece’s sake more than anything. She knew that Dumbledore was after the grey houses. He liked to collect influential individuals like cards in a deck; coveting his aces like a poker player covets their chips.

All she had to do, was decide whether to fold or bluff.

O_o_O_o_O

Yes, our tale is beginning with the journey of Sirius Black, and his quest to raise five of Fate’s children. A noble cause for a hero, even a hero who may be a few cards short of having the full deck. A hero who is not actually a hero, but a father. Sure; he is a father who Fate is hoping will raise her children to save the world rather than bring about its destruction and the burning of eternity, but still; just a father.

But you see, in every great story comes a wealth of supporting characters, and this story is no different. Yes, some of them are considered by the world as a touch mad. Some are natural born turncoats. Some are as stubborn as mules and, some are not even supportive of our hero. However, each and every character has their own part to play in the grand scheme of things, and as more players are brought to the table, the more crowded our story becomes.

So, Fate’s Gambit is in motion, straws are being drawn, hands are being considered, and houses of cards are wobbling with uncertainty. The table is becoming more and more crowded, and the stakes are far more dangerous than a simple game of Russian roulette.

So, tell me; are you keeping up?


	5. Rebirth

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Five – Rebirth

This was going badly, he thought with a grimace. They’d arrived back at the doghouse, only for Sirius to stalk into the bedroom, change into a pair of jeans and his leather jacket, and head straight back out of the door. Remus knew that his mate was going to need time to process what had happened that morning, and the beginnings of guilt started to knot in his stomach. He had always known that Sirius was emotionally stunted; they had his crazy parents to thank for that, but; he had been painfully reminded that morning as to just _how_ oblivious Sirius was when it came to something as complicated as love.

It had been over an hour since they’d got back to Oxford, and there was still no sign of his mate returning to their flat. He knew that he could find him if he so wished, and knowing how Sirius tended to brood over these things it was tempting. However, he also knew what a bad idea it would be for him to be the one to go looking for him.

The Longbottoms had taken Harry and Neville to the Arboretum in the hopes of packing some of their things up, ready for their imminent move into one of the Black properties. Augusta was adamant that there was no way in Hel or Avalon that they _weren’t_ going to be accepted back into the family, and so packing up the manor and locking it down seemed like the most logical choice; going forwards.

How he wished they were here right now. Alice would know exactly what to do. She was much like Lily in that respect, always having the right words for the right situation. Merlin, how he missed both her and James. Even after they’d left school, there hadn’t been a week he’d not had a visit from at least one of them; Lily always popping round with her latest arithmancy work, Harry attached to her hip and take out from their favourite café in the Hollow. Or James dropping in with a bottle of Firewhiskey and insisting on watching a film; something he had mistakenly introduced all of the marauders to one summer.

He got up from the settee; where he’d been attempting to focus on a book to counteract the silence in the flat, and put on his own jacket, resolving to go and find his mate.

O_o_O_o_O

The wind was bitter up here he noted, pulling his jacket tighter around his shoulders and silently and wandlessly casting a warming charm to keep the worst of the cold at bay. He could see why Remus liked the view so much though. Even with the haze of rain and the disturbed water from the wind, it was peaceful. Thinking of Remus was making his head spin. He couldn’t believe that not only had he failed to recognise what was between them, Remus had felt that he couldn’t talk to him about it, instead; dropping it out bluntly in front of his grandfather.

His anger at his friend was what had driven him out of their flat earlier. He knew that if they started an argument, he would likely say something he wouldn’t be able to take back. Betrayal was one of the worst things someone could do to their friends, and two out of three of the marauders had now betrayed him in some way.

Peter had betrayed them all. Looking back, he could admit that it was their own fault. Peter and Remus had often been pushed to the edge, orbiting him and James and their brotherhood that had run so much deeper than friendship. Peter had always understood though. Peter had understood everything except perhaps, how much they all loved him. That his actions had led to the death of James and Lily had made his act of betrayal all the more painful.

Remus on the other hand. He’d betrayed the trust Sirius had always had in their friendship. The trust that had been there right from the beginning. He’d played games with Sirius’s emotions, even though he’d known how badly he’d always struggled with them. He _was_ oblivious and that was why he’d always relied on Moony to keep his head straight. To help him understand what he was feeling, and Remus had used that trust to trample all over him. He felt sick.

“Sirius.” His wolf’s voice was quiet. Apologetic. It was the last thing he wanted to hear right now.

“I don’t want you here.” He whispered; rubbing his forehead against the headache that had started to flare at his temples. “I’ll come back to the flat in a bit.”

“I’m sorry.” Remus replied, and he heard his friend take another step towards him. He kept his eyes locked onto the view from the bridge, deliberately not meeting the werewolf’s eyes. “What I did was wrong Sirius. I was hurting, and I took it out on you.”

“You used me.” The words sounded harsher out loud than in his head. He didn’t care. He still felt sick. “You have always known that I struggle with these things. You were supposed to be the one to help me understand Remus. But instead you’ve played your little game and now we’re both hurting because of it. Please go back to the flat, I’ll be back when I can look at you without wanting to hex your balls off.” He heard Remus turn to go and waited for the retreating footsteps, thus startling slightly when Remus’s warm hands draped an extra jacket over his shoulders. A jacket that smelled of dusty books, coffee, chocolate and leather. A jacket that smelt of his best friend. The wolf finally headed back towards the flat and he let out a breath he hadn’t even noticed he was holding. He waited until he knew Remus was out of sight before wrapping the jacket around him, finally feeling his eyes sting.

O_o_O_o_O

Peter had thought that they would have come after him (well Sirius at least). That he was a dead man, the instant Lily and James were killed. The fact that he was not only still alive, but eating table scraps; secreted to him by a young red-headed boy, was a huge bonus. He’d barely escaped the Hollow before Black got to the scene, and he’d secreted himself within Hagrid’s pocket, un-noticed by both the half-giant _and_ Sirius, who; after a clever compulsion from him, handed over the bairn to Hagrid. After that it was a matter of hitching a ride to Hogwarts, prostrating himself before Dumbledore and agreeing to the Headmaster’s plan of him hiding within the Weasley family until they could sort out the charges Sirius was most likely to bring against him.

He may have been the slowest of the marauders, but he was still clever enough to know when to listen to good advice. And Dumbledore _did_ always give good advice. It was clear that the headmaster had a plan. What that plan was, Peter had no idea, but if it was one thing he had learnt, it was to always trust your instincts, and his instincts were currently all in favour of survival.

O_o_O_o_O

“Am I to take it things did not go well earlier?” Alice asked; dropping down on to the settee next to Remus and passing him one of the mugs she was carrying. He took a gulp of the tea before sighing and dropping his head into his free hand. He felt her start to rub his back in an attempt to soothe him and he honestly felt like crying. He was exhausted. They all were. Though the war had officially ended, it had been long and hard, and they seemed to have more difficult battles ahead of them. It felt endless, and he knew that they would have to find their way to go forwards together, or risk losing everything to Dumbledore. “What happened?”

“The meeting was going fine until I dropped the bomb of our relationship onto both him and Sirius.”

“He didn’t take it well?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. They’d had concerns over the stigma attached to werewolves but she had hoped that Arcturus would have been a little more understanding when he found out that not only were they mates, but that Sirius was the Alpha.

“Old man Black took it fine.” Remus replied. “Sirius on the other hand.” The penny dropped for Alice and the guilt she knew Remus was feeling right now started to worm its way into _her_ stomach. How could either of them been so stupid? Sirius had never hidden the fact that he was completely oblivious. She didn’t even think he _knew_ how oblivious he was. He must be feeling like shit right now, thinking that Remus had betrayed his trust. In a way he had, but she had been the one to plant the seed in his brain at a time when he was emotionally vulnerable, and now she was responsible for what had happened between the pair.

“I’m sorry Remus.” She whispered. He shook his head and sighed.

“This isn’t your fault. I have always known how bad he is with emotions, and I took advantage of that in one of the worst situations possible. This is my fault Alice. And I have no idea how to fix it.”

“You were hurting Remus. We all were, but I planted that seed in your brain. I am the one who has courted discord between you both.” Remus shook his head, gently placing his hand over her mouth.

“Please stop.” He whispered, his voice cracking. Her eyes softened and she took his mug from his hand, placing both of them on the floor before wrapping him in a hug. She smiled when his arms snaked around her and it wasn’t until a throat was cleared behind them that they drew apart. Remus shot to his feet when he saw Sirius and Alice rose slowly; taking hold of his hand in silent support.

“I’m sorry.” Sirius said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortably. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away earlier.” Remus shook his head again and Alice felt him grip her hand and she worked to keep the wince from her face. Merlin he was strong.

“I’m so sorry Pads. I wasn’t thinking. You were right to be angry with me. You _still_ have a right to be angry with me. I betrayed your trust in the worst possible way.” Sirius glanced at their joined hands and seemed to cave in on himself. He had never looked so alone and Remus felt like a right prick. If he was Sirius, he’d be hexing his balls off right about now. He looked to Alice and gave her an almost unperceivable nod. She smiled and slipped her hand out of his, reaching out instead for Sirius, and ushering him into the kitchen, no doubt to feed him coffee and help him talk through what had happened.

Remus dropped back onto the sofa with a sigh and rubbed his eyes from where they’d started to sting. This exhaustion wasn’t healthy, and he could feel Moony battering against his mental shields. The moon that month had come and gone, and all he remembered was howling out for the members of his pack who were no longer there. That is what no one understood about him. Moony had seen all of them as pack, and to have gone from five members down to just the two of them, it was hurting the werewolf more than the exhaustion, more than the grief and more than his relationship problems with Sirius. He’d lost over half his pack in the space of 24 hours and the pain that had come with that loss, had been crippling him ever since. Or more accurately, Moony had been crippling him. Was it any wonder he couldn’t think straight?

“You’re being too hard on both yourself and Sirius.” Remus couldn’t help but groan at the sound of Augusta’s voice against his headache and the chuckle she responded with was the last thing he’d expected to hear. She took a place next to him on the settee and covered one of his clenched fists with her hand. “It will work itself out in the end. These things always do. Until then, try to give yourselves a little breathing space.” He yawned. He couldn’t help it, and certainly hadn’t meant to, but it happened and Augusta gave him another chuckle. “You will both be having an early night tonight.”

“Why have these last few weeks been so exhausting?” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He knew the answer to that, of course he did but, weren’t things supposed to be getting better? He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Frank behind him, a grim expression.

“Go and get some sleep in the bedroom Remus. We’ll take the settees tonight.” He wanted to argue, but he didn’t have the energy. Merlin’s balls he was so tired. He nodded and allowed the man to pull him off the sofa and steer him towards the bedroom door. “We’ll deal with everything here, just go and get some rest.” He nodded again dumbly and closed the door behind him; falling onto the bed, fully dressed and on top of the sheets. He was asleep within seconds.

O_o_O_o_O

“Talk to me Sirius.” Alice whispered, clutching at her friend’s hand. They’d been sat in silence for over ten minutes now and apart from a nod to thank her for the mug of tea he was currently nursing, Sirius had yet to even acknowledge her presence.

“Did you put him up to it?” He asked quietly after another long silence, punctuated only by him taking a gulp of tea.

“I certainly didn’t help matters.” She replied diplomatically. “We all know how badly you struggle with these things, I’m just sorry we all forgot ourselves, and that between us we have hurt you this badly; it wasn’t our intention, despite what you must be feeling right now.”

“I asked him Alice.” He whispered. “I asked him if what I’d said on the bridge hurt him. I asked again and again and he just didn’t want to talk about it. To drop it out in front of Arc like that…”

“It hurts.” She finished for him, when he seemed unable to. He nodded; resting his elbows on the table and dropping his head into his hands. “Oh sweetheart.” She sighed, moving her chair to sit next to him and pulling him towards her. “We’re all exhausted, angry, grieving, scared and stuck inside this flat together until your grandfather says otherwise. It’s a dangerous mix Siri and we’re going to bounce off of one another. The important thing is that we understand that we aren’t alone. We have each other. We have the boys. We’re safe for now and once Lily’s sister has been dealt with, and we have moved into our new home, all of this will sort itself out.” He sighed against her shoulder and she smiled, rubbing his back softly, knowing from Lily that it was the easiest way to calm him down.

“I love him.” He said finally and she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Of course you do sweetheart.” She replied. “You have loved him for years; you just haven’t had the capacity to deal with your feelings until now.”

“I’m not sure I’m dealing with them very well.” he said with a grimace, his head still leant against her shoulder and his hands now wrapped around his stomach.

“That’s because you haven’t had enough practice at it. We’re all here to help you sort through what you are feeling, you just have to try and trust us. I know that after today that’s going to be hard to do, but we will try and earn that trust back. Believe me when I say that not one of us feels as bad about this as Remus does.”

“Grief isn’t good for a werewolf.” Sirius mumbled tiredly, feeling the pressure of the morning start to manifest in exhaustion.

“Then go to him. Tell him how you feel. Let him apologise and then spend the rest of the day sleeping, because tomorrow things are going to start changing, and the next week is going to be crucial to our plan. Go to him Sirius. Help him start to fix what we’ve broke.”

O_o_O_o_O

“Do you think they’re going to be alright?” Frank asked worriedly, glancing at the bedroom door. It had been over six hours since he and his wife had ushered their respective marauders into the bedroom and it was time, they started getting ready for bed themselves. The boys were sleeping quietly, having been fed, bathed (or as well as they could be, when all they seemed to want to do was soak Alice and Frank in their bubbly bath water) and put down for the night, Augusta had retired to her own room an hour earlier and the young couple were taking the time to enjoy the peace and quiet of the flat.

“I think they’ll be better when we’re not all cooped up in here together.” Alice replied. “I just hope that whichever property old man Black gives us is bigger than a two-bed flat.” Frank snorted in amusement at that. He knew that the Prewetts, despite being an old family, weren’t particularly wealthy so his wife would have little experience as to what true wealth looked like. The Arboretum, although a half decent size, was considered small for a pureblood manor, and was one of only five properties in the Longbottom portfolio. It was rumoured that the Blacks had over twenty residences, including Sirius’s childhood home in London; Grimmauld Place, Black Manor in the heart of Derbyshire, The Chateau Noir in France (home to Cassiopeia Black) plus several other manors and country estates dotted not just in England but around Europe. It was an impressive spread and one which he was positive held a manor of sufficient size to house them all.

“I am positive that we will be made comfortable. Arcturus will want to keep us sweet.”

“How are you feeling on the whole situation now that Sirius has had his meeting?” She asked. They hadn’t talked to either of the marauders about the meeting directly, focussing instead on their burgeoning relationship and attempting to stop it from falling apart, but they had assumed that seeing it was the only thing on either of their minds, that the rest of the meeting had gone well.

“Better than I was. I’m still not entirely happy with the situation but you were right, it is the best way to keep us all safe, and I trust Sirius. Am I still hesitant? Yes. Is that hesitation warranted? Certainly. However, Sirius laid it all out for us the other day, and I am feeling better about the fact that we have a plan, not just a knee-jerk move into deatheater territory.”

“I understand your reluctance.” Alice said quietly, getting up to start laying blankets out on the settees. “But Sirius is doing this not just to keep us safe, but to keep _Harry_ safe. And I trust him with the welfare of Lily’s son. I trust him with the _life_ of Lily’s son, and if I trust him with that, then how can I do anything _but_ trust him with our own lives?”

O_o_O_o_O

“We should get up.” Remus whispered, turning over to face his mate.

They had talked well into the night, apologising and whispering words of love. Things had developed ( _obviously)_ but, this story isn’t about Sirius Black’s sex life with his werewolf (we’ll leave _that_ to your imaginations), instead let us refocus back to our original scripture.

So, glossing over the _other_ issue; the meeting with Arcturus had gone ostensibly well. Sirius was expecting a visit from Hugin (One of his grandfather’s ravens, because the Blacks never were conventional), and he supposed a trip to Privet Drive was in order.

“We need to go into town.” He responded, rather than _actually_ moving. “The Dursleys are going to need somewhere to live and Harry needs blood adopting as soon as possible.”

“How are we going to play this?”

“Harry will need blood adopting at almost the exact time of a fire/explosion. If we time it right no one should be any the wiser and we can wait to submit adoption papers until the craziness has died down. I’ll get in touch with Marius Black and see if we can adopt his ‘grandson who has started to show signs of magic’.”

“He was the squib wasn’t he?”

“Old Pollux’s brother.” Sirius confirmed with a nod of his head. “Was sequestered away to France and given a rather large pay-out. Should be easy to falsify documents stating he has a grandson who has started to show signs of magic. Of course, the new heir to the house of Black would be honoured to adopt the boy and help raise him into the family. Marius could even be offered a place back here to continue the ruse.”

“Will Arcturus go for that?”

“I’m not sure he will have much of a choice. He will want to hide the fact that we have Harry just as much as I do. I can’t see him objecting.”

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius, as it turns out was bang on the money (one of Lily Potter’s favourite sayings, and one which had been fully adopted by Sirius the first time he’d heard it), Lord Arcturus Black was in a quandary over how to hide the fact that he would soon be harbouring The-Boy-Who-Lived, the destroyer of the Dark Lord. It was fortunate then, that he had not hesitated in sending Hugin off to Oxford, a letter firmly in his clutches. When the reply had come, he couldn’t help but feel proud of the fact that his grandson seemed to have a solid plan in place for dealing with Harry’s adoption. Harry James Potter would officially become Harrison Cadmus Black, son to Sirius Black through adoption from the line of Marius Black. Neville would, in time become Neville Arcturus Black and Dumbledore would be none the wiser on what they’d actually managed to pull off. Number 4 Privet Drive would burn that night, The Dursleys would be secreted away to a house, not far from Sirius’s Oxford flat and Harry James Potter would have, for all intents and purposes, burned to death in a cupboard under the stairs.

It was all so very Slytherin.

It was all so very _Black_.

“I take it the boy’s reply is good news?” Melania asked, from where she was jotting notes down in her small, black journal.

“The best my dear.” He replied. “Plans are in motion and I intend to house the lot of them in Caddington within the week.”

“The Orrery?” She asked, her eyebrows raising. The Orrery was so named for its unusually domed attic roof in it’s one and only tower. From the outside of course; it appeared just as any square, hipped roof would; inside however, it was subject to a charm similar of that in the great hall of Hogwarts. It showed all of the positions of the stars, constellations and planets, and could be manipulated to show the night sky at different points in history. It was a true masterpiece in charmwork from Elladora Black; and upon her death had been home to Sirius Black, Elladora’s favourite nephew and Arcturus’s father.

“The boys will enjoy the Planetarium I think.” He responded with a soft smile, obviously reminiscing from his own childhood.

“You just want to have an excuse to visit the place.” She muttered fondly, and he didn’t deny it. He’d loved his childhood home; the sprawling grounds (which included a sizable forest, a lake, several green houses and, due to his youngest brother’s passion; a quidditch pitch), the sizable library, the Planetarium (obviously), and the attic, which he and his two brothers had made their own space for the times when they wanted to escape whichever visitors their parents were hosting.

“They should be more than comfortable there, and the elf team are sizable and friendly. It is one of the better properties in our British portfolio.”

“Far enough away from London and Scotland to be well hidden, even from wizarding eyes.” Melania muttered, summoning a large ledger from study bookshelf and opening it to show the details of the property.

“They’ll be well hidden under wards anyway; however, I wanted the extra precaution of having them away from the magical masses.”

“I still say you’re just moving them in so you have an excuse.” She replied teasingly. Warmth washed over him at his wife’s affectionate playfulness and he knew that the next years were going to be just fine, as long as he had her.

O_o_O_o_O

“What are _you_ doing here?” The horse-faced woman sneered from the doorway of Privet Drive. “I thought I had warned your lot not to bother us again…”

“You made your feelings quite clear at the wedding Mrs Dursley.” Remus cut in coldly, before Sirius could answer. “However, we have come to inform you of a serious matter which has not yet been brought to your attention. May we come in?” They didn’t want to have to enter the house by force, and unfortunately it seemed for a moment that they would have to do just that, but Petunia’s resolve finally wavered and she stepped aside to admit them into her home.

The two men fought to keep their expressions neutral as they took in the décor and they each took a seat on the settee Lily’s sister directed them to.

“Why are _you_ here if it is such an important matter?” She sneered before either man could start and Remus winced as one of Sirius’ eyebrows curved upwards.

“Mrs Dursley.” He said, fighting hard to sound kinder than he had done at the door. “Three weeks ago, Lily and James were killed in an attack on their home. Your nephew survived and is now residing with us; however, we believe your family is in immediate danger.”

“Lily’s dead?” To her credit, Petunia looked horrified, but Remus knew that it would not last when they handed over the deeds to the newest edition in their property portfolio.

“I’m so very sorry Mrs Dursley.” Sirius managed to get out, his voice steady, even though his tensed jaw displayed his irritation at the odious woman in front of them.

“And where was her good for nothing husband in all of this?” Petunia hissed, her eyes narrowing. “Where were _you_? You were meant to be such _good_ friends with them so why weren’t you there?” Remus winced, guilt twisting in his stomach, and a glance at his mate confirmed that Sirius was past pissed and heading swiftly for an explosion. This was going to be a fucking train wreck he thought, before his mind berated his use of language. Sirius’s icy magic snapped him out of his internal commentary and the room’s temperature dropped by at least five degrees.

“May I remind you that you abandoned Lily when she needed you the most.” He hissed. “We are here as a courtesy, nothing more. We have a desire to keep you alive as Harry’s last remaining blood relative. That may soon change if you continue with the hatred bile that spews out of your gaping hole.” Petunia looked as though she had been slapped and Remus mentally applauded and berated his mate at the same time. “As such; we are offering you a house in Oxford, free of charge, all moving costs included and a scholarship for your son when he comes of school age. I suggest that you say nothing more and sign the paperwork my friend is going to give to you.” Remus’s hands shook in a mixture of rage and anticipation as he handed over the paperwork and a pen, knowing that a quill would be instantly snubbed.

“Before you sign, I need to tell you that it is a requirement that you move out of Privet Drive _tomorrow_. We have organised a top of the range, executive moving service and a hotel suite in London for your use for the rest of the week. All you will need is clothes and toiletries to last you until next Saturday.”

“You cannot just expect us drop our lives in order to move to the other side of London!” Petunia almost screeched. “Vernon has work…”

“I’m sure something can be arranged for him in Oxford Mrs Dursley.” Sirius said smoothly, his rage having been pushed back behind his occlumency shields. “May I remind you that we are offering this house as a courtesy, as I have officially bought the land this house sits on, and could quite rightly evict you out of here _today_ with nowhere to go. The property I am offering you is a three story, four bed, three-bathroom townhouse in the heart of Oxford with a sizable back garden and is in walking distance to three good schools. I’d think very carefully about my offer before you throw it back in my face.”

Petunia had gone very white, very quickly Remus mused. She looked as though she was about to refuse before flipping over the paperwork to find a picture of the house, they were offering her. It was easily worth three times the price of Privet Drive and came with a scholarship for her boy and a tentative offer of job security from Sirius. It was more than the bitch deserved, and it was more than either of them had wanted to give her, but they needed to keep her sweet. With a tentative pause she signed the paperwork which disappeared in a golden flash, causing her eyes to pop out of her head.

“I suggest you go and start to pack Mrs Dursley.” Sirius said coldly. “The moving team will be here at noon tomorrow, past that, you will not be able to enter this property.” _Or remember where it is_. Remus thought to himself. They were Fidellusing the whole lot until they blew the house and wards the next evening. Without a backwards glance they showed themselves out of the house, leaving Lily’s sister to contemplate more than their generosity.

O_o_O_o_O

_Sirius,_

_I am writing to formally invite you and your company to Black manor tomorrow night, in order to perform the blood-adoption ritual for young Harry. I am aware that you wish to blow the ward on Privet Drive at the same time so I now extend my invitation to stay the night in order to compete your goal._

_Please let Nip know if any in your company have any special requirements for dinner, and please expect Hugin with a portkey for six o’clock tomorrow evening._

_We look forward to your company and please pass on my regards to the Longbottoms ahead of our introductions._

_Yours Sincerely_

_Lord Arcturus Cygnus Black_

_Toujours_ _Pur_

“Well if that isn’t a thinly veiled order to be at the manor for dinner tomorrow then I don’t know what is.” Remus said brightly as he read over the letter. Hugin; the huge raven Arcturus used for family business, squawked accusingly as though offended on behalf of his master before taking off back out of the window. Sirius groaned and dropped his head on the kitchen table with a thump.

“This is a positive.” Augusta said with a smirk. “I have no doubt that he will add some of his own blood to the ritual in order to make Harry’s link to the family stronger. “I suggest you visit Gringotts this afternoon to put the Potter affairs in order. Dumbledore will know that the little one is not dead if the seat remains active.”

“James appointed me as Steward and heir apparent.” Sirius replied offhandedly, his head still on the table and so missing his varying looks of bewilderment at that statement. “He was adamant that one of my pups would claim the seat if the worst happened.”

“Dear Merlin he was as blind as the pair of you.” The Longbottom dowager said with a grimace.

“I think it’s just men in general my lady.” Alice replied with a quirk of her lips. “It is the only explanation.”

“Perhaps you are correct my child.”

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that James gave you heirship?” Frank said bewildered.

“It is practically unheard of outside of bloodlines.”

“They were blood brothers.” Remus replied quietly, knowing that the subject was too raw for Sirius to talk about.

“When did that happen?”

“The night I turned up on Charlus Potter’s doorstep half dead.” Sirius replied bluntly, his head lifting from the table and his eyes swimming with dark memories. “The night I ran away from home and vowed never to return to the Black family.” The glare Frank received from Augusta was enough to end that line of discussion and instead turn the subject to the now impending dinner with the most powerful man in Wizarding Britain. At least things were moving in the right direction.

O_o_O_o_O

“I still think it was a mistake to leave him there.” Frank hissed to his wife and Remus. They were crouched low in the shadows, dressed head to toe in black and with layers of charms crisscrossing their skin, hiding their presence.

“He has to be there for the ritual.” Alice hissed for the fifth time in the space of thirty minutes. Harry’s adoption was due to take place in less than ten minutes and they knew that the timing had to be perfect. In all honesty she reckoned that they had been given the easy job that evening. What was blowing a few wards and a house up compared to continuing with the absolute circus their after-dinner conversations had turned into?

All of them but Sirius had underestimated the deviousness of Arcturus Black it seemed. Either that; or Sirius was an amazing actor with the thickest set of mental shields she had ever seen. After portkeying into the public Floo room of Black manor, they had been introduced to Pollux Black, his wife Irma, their son; Cygnus and his wife and eventually; the Malfoys. Sirius seemed to have anticipated their company, as he dropped a kiss on each of the ladies’ hands, shook the men’s and introduced them as his company.

Yes, Alice thought, she would much rather be here, waiting to blow up a house rather than cosy up to the Malfoys. In all honesty she couldn’t fault Narcissa for her flawless manners and her seeming desire to stay focused on safe topics (namely their sons). Cygnus had obviously taught his daughter well and Alice found herself more comfortable with the statuesque blonde than she liked.

“Your mother is with them.” Remus chipped in brightly. “They’ll be fine.” Augusta had been a force to be reckoned with that night, breezing through the introductions with only so much as a raised eyebrow to show that she had been unprepared to see what amounted as a mass gathering of Blacks. “Ten minutes to nine.” He muttered checking his watch, not daring to cast a tempus.

At Arcturus’s instruction they had taken the bedding from privet drive to the manor with them, where he’d performed the transfigurations so that the piles of laundry resembled four figures. They had pricked Harry’s thumb, allowing some of his blood to fall onto one of the smaller figures and then instructed Nip to move everything to the muggle house. They were hoping three things; first that Dumbledore would be fooled by the pile of ashes the rudimentary bodies were going to leave. Second; they hoped that they’d managed to infuse enough of Harry’s magic into the fake Harry to register and thirdly, that the house elf magic wouldn’t trip the wards around the house. They’d had to put a hold on Fidellusing the property, knowing that whatever Dumbledore was using to monitor the wards would trip, and though he wouldn’t remember where the property was, he would be warned of a danger to Harry. Not a situation they wanted to create.

“I wonder how they are getting on.” Alice asked nervously.

O_o_O_o_O

“It is ten to nine.” Augusta said softly, resting her hand on Sirius’s shoulder. The herd of Blacks had congregated in one of the informal lounges, and as soon as Narcissa had toed off her dainty high heels to tuck her legs beneath her Sirius knew that he could lounge against the arm of his settee, tucking Harry into his shoulder. The little boy had not made a murmur of discontent all night, even when they’d drawn blood earlier, and Sirius suspected that the family magic was at work. Instead, Harry had stared at him with huge green eyes and giggled at the bubbles Alice had made with her wand to keep him distracted. He’d been passed around the group, scowling at Pollux but otherwise playful and content with the rest of the family and Sirius knew they were doing the right thing.

“It is almost time.” Arcturus stated, reaching into his robes and pulling out a vial. He passed it to Sirius, who had already handed off Harry to Augusta, along with the family ritual knife and Sirius had nodded his head in thanks. He cut his thumb and allowed nine drops of blood drip into the vial.

“I, Sirius Orion Black; Heir to the House of Black, Heir Apparent to the House of Potter; do offer my blood and magic to Harry James Potter Heir to the House of Potter and Heir Apparent to the House of Black. May my blood be your blood, may my magic be your magic, may your battles be my battles. As your father; by blood, by magic, by law. Your father; by blood, by spirit, by heart. Your father; by blood, by will and by oath so have I sworn; so, mote it be. Per magica per sanguinem per spiritus; Toujours Pur.” He finished his oath with a flare of magic and passed the vial to his grandfather who swiftly cut his thumb to add his blood to the mix. Sirius’s eyes widened as Arcturus allowed seven drops into the vial before starting his vow.

“I, Arcturus Phineas Black; Head of the House of Black; do accept and bless Harry James Potter; Heir to the House of Potter, Heir Apparent to the House of Black. May the blood and magic of the Black family be his, may his battles be our battles, may this adoption be blessed by the mother and the father. So, have sworn it; so, mote it be. Per magica per sanguinem per spiritus; Toujours Pur.” He flared his magic and passed the vial back to Sirius with a masked expression. Sirius grimaced as he pricked Harry’s thumb for the second time that evening and allowed seven drops of blood enter the vial. He sealed the wound quickly checking on his charge only to find Harry staring at him almost contentedly as if he knew what was happening.

As the clock above the mantel started to chime nine o’clock he spelled the contents of the vial into Harry’s stomach and started the second half of the adoption vow.

“I Sirius Orion Black hereby call on magic to recognise the adoption of Harrison Cadmus Black, Heir apparent to the House of Black, Heir apparent to the House of Potter. May he be blessed by the mother and the father and may the magic of Black run unhindered through his veins.” All of the blood family members flared their magic in concert and the lounge was suddenly filled with oppressive silver magic, concentrating at the babe who started to change in Augusta’s arms. They watched as his green eyes bled silver and his hair settled and darkened, the new blood burning through his genetics like feindfyre through a cornfield. Before the clock had finished striking the twenty first hour of the day Harry James Potter was dead.

Harrison Cadmus Black was born.


	6. An Unkindness of Ravens

**Sorry for keeping you guys waiting for your Saturday update; it's been a busy weekend. Here's Chapter 6, hope you all enjoy! ~ Kiad**

* * *

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Six – An Unkindness of Ravens

The portkey unceremoniously dumped the small group into the formal Floo room of Black manor, and Remus unconsciously reached out to grip his mate’s wrist. Their relationship troubles aside, they were pleased with how Wednesday’s meeting had gone and now, four days later they were back in the imposing manor waiting to be greeted once more, by Arcturus. It was a surprise then, when the door opened to admit his wife; smiling and dressed to the nines in silver and pale blue robes. Melania was a true beauty, Remus thought. Small and slender; with mousy brown hair down to her hips, eyes the colour of cornflowers, soft cheekbones and a dimpled chin; her rich McMillan ancestry was clearly visible. They bowed low to the Lady of the house and Sirius stepped forwards to greet his grandmother.

“Toujours Pur my Lady. May I thank you on behalf of my entire company here, for your invitation to dinner.” He bowed once again; straightening only when her dainty hand came to rest on his cheek.

“You look well grandson.” She said softly, her voice; just tinged with a Cornish accent. “If a little worn. Has the babe been keeping you awake?” She turned to Harry who was safely ensconced in Remus’s arms and her expression immediately melted into something Remus could only describe as ‘aww’. “May I?” She asked, her blue eyes snapping to his and he shot a look at Sirius before nodding and handing over Harry. The boy gurgled, smiling brightly at his grandmother and he began to babble something to her before pointing at his godbrother with a sound that was half surprised and half commanding. Within five seconds he had well and truly wrapped his grandmother around his little finger and she laughed in delight, fetching him over to where Neville was in his mother’s arms so that the boys could start to babble away to one another whilst the adults continued their greetings.

“He’s been quiet since Samhain.” Remus said softly, replying to Melania’s original question. “This is the most active we’ve seen him.” She hummed in something akin to satisfaction before swiftly moving her attentions to greet the Longbottoms. Remus could see that her and Augusta were going to hit it off immediately and with the inevitable introduction of Minerva, the three women would become a force to be reckoned with.

The greetings over; Melania led them through into the main section of the manor, starting a running commentary over the various portraits they passed for the Longbottoms. It gave he and Sirius time to compose themselves and seeing as Harry had yet to be surrendered from his grandmother’s arms it gave him leave to grip his mate’s hand. Sirius nodded to show that he was okay and they glanced over at Harry in unison. The dark-haired boy was still gurgling on to Neville and seemed content and curious. It was as if the clock had been turned back three weeks and he was the energetic, bubbly baby they had known before the horrific events of Halloween.

They reached the formal lounge and Remus almost stumbled at the sight of a full room. Arcturus was there, as well as the Malfoys and who he could only assume were Narcissa’s parents, but it was the sight of the tall, slender man standing by the mantlepiece that had given him the biggest shock. He could only guess that this was Pollux Black, Arcturus’s cousin and second eldest Black male. His indifferent mask would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the disdain glittering in his dark grey eyes and Remus felt a shiver down his spine. Pollux Black could have been a character out of any child’s nightmare; his pointed chin, high cheekbones and long black hair were all characteristics of a spook, but it was the maliciousness that sold it for Remus. Here was a man they really _didn’t_ want to have to get to know.

“Grandfather.” Sirius greeted; bowing low to Arcturus. He copied his greeting and actions in Pollux’s direction, his bow just an inch or two from being regarded as an insult. Remus could see damage control was going to have to be done in the near future. Sirius was too volatile to be around Pollux’s famous temper for long. “Thank you for your invitation this evening, on behalf of my entire company here.” Arcturus smiled warmly and Remus could see genuine fondness in the Black Lord’s eyes as he looked to his grandson.

“It is my pleasure Sirius. Please take a seat and we’ll start with introductions, shall we?” The group seated themselves on the empty armchairs and settees around the room and Remus winced when Frank ended up sharing a settee with the Malfoys in order for Melania and Harry to sit with Alice and Neville. His eyebrows rose at the small child resting on Lucius’s knee and the blond lord gave him a cold look in return; causing him to swiftly turn his attention elsewhere. Sirius easily handled the introductions and Remus dipped his head at the Arcturus’s regard when the older man gave him a soft smile. He and Sirius had seated themselves in armchairs close to the fireplace; their backs to Pollux and facing Arcturus almost directly, showing their respect for the house Lord and their disregard for his cousin. They were toeing a dangerous line in regards to Pollux but Remus knew that his mate had a plan on how to deal with his younger grandfather.

Pollux, unlike his cousin; had made his fortune illicitly, through dealings with the Dark Lord and the Deatheaters; in return for his Dark Mark. Remus had heard the rumours of who had been supplying the majority of Snape’s potion ingredients, and it was an open secret that Pollux was the shadow owner of a small and deadly apothecary in Nocturn Alley.

“Down to business then I think.” Melania said, lighting up the room with a smile and breaking through Remus’s musings. “Please enlighten us on how this evening is going to go Sirius.”

“At half past eight Remus, Frank and Alice will travel to Privet drive under disillusions whilst we prepare the ritual and adoption potion for Harry. At exactly nine o’clock they will blow the wards on the house and cause an explosion through the gas mains, instantly incinerating what we hope will pass for four bodies.”

“You have the sheets?” Arcturus asked with a raised eyebrow and Sirius nodded.

“An elf is ready with them when you are my lord.”

“Good, please continue Sirius.”

“The ‘bodies’ will be placed around the house in the perfect positions to be destroyed and we perform the blood adoption simultaneously with the explosion, therefore, killing Harry Potter whilst Harrison is born into the family.”

“What about the Potter vaults?” Pollux sneered from his place behind them. “Surely you do not think Dumbledore stupid enough to believe the heir is dead if the vaults remain open?”

“James was my blood brother.” Sirius replied, more to Arcturus than Pollux, he had no intention of stroking the younger man’s ego. “He made me heir apparent for if the worst was to happen, the idea that; it would eventually pass to any children I had.” The Black lord nodded, content to leave the subject alone for now, and satisfied that Dumbledore would be none the wiser.

“So, you’ll become the new Lord Potter?” Melania asked with a raised eyebrow. Apparently, she was not of the same mind as her husband, and her famous thirst for knowledge wouldn’t allow her to gloss over the matter so easily.

“No, I plan to take up an almost stewardship like role instead. Convince Dumbledore that I will set the accounts in order to eventually pass to a new heir.”

“Harrison.” Arcturus stated rather than asked.

“That depends on what Harry wants to do.” Sirius replied. “I’ll not force him into taking the Potter headship if he doesn’t want it, and I certainly won’t make him heir until we’ve assessed how much danger it would put him in. It will be a few years yet before any of those discussions take place.”

“It would be better to concentrate on the task in front of us.” Arcturus agreed with a nod. “But before then, I think we should meet the young man in question.”

O_o_O_o_O

Minerva was pacing. She didn’t even try to deny it. She was pacing her office, wringing her hands and wondering what the bloody hell was going on at the Black manor. Sirius had informed her of their plans and had fought to pull her out of the school for the evening. They were worried about Dumbledore. They were worried about what the old man could and would potentially do.

A knock at her door solved her pacing issue and she forced herself to sit behind her desk in order to build a semi calm façade. She pulled a stack of papers towards her and a quill and started to shuffle through the parchment.

“Come in.” She was surprised and somewhat relieved to see Severus. Here was the one person in the school who would understand her edginess. “What a pleasant surprise Severus.” She said with as big of a smile as she could muster. “Shall we move to somewhere more comfortable for this discussion?” He nodded and she instantly got the message. He’d sorted his memories. She stacked the papers, dowsed her candles and led him through to her chambers offering him an armchair by the fire and a glass of single malt. He took it with a nod of thanks and she poured herself a large measure.

“I have done as you recommended.” He said with a nod. “There were more gaps than I thought there would be and I find myself unable to continue my employment here.”

“Please don’t be so rash Severus.” Minerva tutted. “I have a proposition for you instead.”

“One of your contacts I presume?” He asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

“They feel that it would be beneficial for the pair of us to continue on at the castle. There are things happening at the moment that would make it extremely difficult for you or I to leave.”

“Dumbledore is plotting then.”

“Indeed.” She clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth as she tried to assess how much to share. Sirius had given her his blanket trust to do or say whatever she needed to get Snape onside, but there was a lot of information she didn’t think she would be able to trust the young man in front of her with. “My contact feels that we could be mutually beneficial to each other if we stay here, and I agree. I have no intention of stopping teaching however I’m not the young woman I used to be so I propose an alliance.”

“You want someone to protect you.”

“And you crave information about the events of Samhain and what is happening in the wider world right now.”

“What kind of information are we talking here?” Minerva smiled rather predatorially and she knew that he’d fallen into her trap.

“I have information regarding Lily’s son, and I also have some of her journals, detailing why they went into hiding.”

“We already know that part.” Snape sneered.

“I also have her school journals. The ones she and Alice wrote together. There are some rather interesting insights into the wolfsbane potion in there, as well as some projects I believe you worked on together. I have information on what happened to the Dark Lord and I know what is going to happen in the dark sect politically over the course of the next few months.”

“You have someone on the inside.”

“You aren’t the only spy Severus.” She said coyly, neither confirming nor denying his suspicions.

“So, in return for my protection you are willing to do what exactly?” He asked with a sneer. “Give me a leg up in politics?”

“More than that my dear. I have a potential position for you within my contact’s court.”

“A way out of Hogwarts then?”

“Not exactly. A more of a side project which will allow you to realise your true potential and give you access to a few items you need to complete your current research.”

“I never thought I would see the day where Dumbledore’s right hand would offer a deatheater illegal substances.” He said with a wry smile. He held out his hand expectedly. “You have a deal.” She nodded and shook it, pleased to have secured her own ace in the hole. It seemed she was better at this politicking stuff than she gave herself credit for.

O_o_O_o_O

“Have you chosen a name yet?” Narcissa asked from her place beside Alice. The young woman was sandwiched between the Malfoy Lady and Melania at the end of the grand dining table; all three of them feeding a young boy in their lap. Harry had been passed around the group and had surprised everyone by gurgling and grinning at them all, with the exception of Pollux. The man had taken Harry into his hands as though he was nothing more than a dog, and Harry had turned quite red, frowned and started babbling in what could only be described as an angry fashion. He looked quite put out to be in the old man’s arms and Pollux had sneered a ‘brat’ at him before passing him to his wife. Harry went back to being all smiles and Arcturus had chuckled at the fact that the young boy seemed to already have the measure of his cousin.

“For who?” Alice asked dumbly, her mind still half on trying to spoon mashed swede into Neville whilst avoiding his waving arms.

“Your son. For when he is adopted.”

“We’re keeping Neville.” Alice said firmly with a frown. “It is what we chose for him when he was born.”

“Won’t it raise suspicions?”

“By the time Neville is adopted, Dumbledore will be too busy chasing Sirius in the political ring to bother about a supposed dormant house. The heirship has been temporarily passed to Sirius and he has yet to attempt to draw the ring, we want Dumbledore to remain oblivious for now, however once the games start Sirius will quietly adopt Neville and pass heirship back to him, keeping the house dormant until Neville takes his ring at eleven.”

“Just before Hogwarts.”

“Yes. The ring will keep him safe from legilimency attacks from the old man.”

“Even so it would be beneficial to give him something new, a good strong name with meaning. It would throw old-beard if nothing else.”

“Sirius has gone with Cadmus for Harrison’s middle name. It was almost Regulus.”

“Cadmus is good.” Narcissa replied with a smile. “The first hero of Greek myth, turned into a snake by Ares, builder of cities and appointer of Spartoi. I like it.”

“You’re good at that.” Alice observed. “Did you ever think about doing a History Mastery?” Narcissa smiled somewhat melancholic.

“I didn’t need to. I had an arranged marriage to a good house; all I have to do is raise Draco.” Alice frowned at that. It seemed like a waste. From what she had seen, the blonde was a keen observer and political lioness, she could do a whole lot better than housewife to a peacock like Malfoy.

“I know what you’re thinking.” The woman in question said with a smile, breaking through Alice’s musings. “But the great thing about the house of Black is that it is the women who are the secret powers behind the men, we are the ones to work in the shadows, Uncle Arc wouldn’t be half the man he is without Auntie Mel.”

“That’s right my child.” Melania piped up, pausing her conversation with Augusta and Irma. “And you can bet your husband’s small fortune that I never let him forget it either.”

“I thought the Malfoy’s were wealthy?”

“Oh, my dear Alice.” Melania said with a chuckle. “The Malfoys are wealthy in terms of the _newer_ houses, but the house of Black is one of the oldest in the Wizengamot, along with the Longbottoms, Potters, Bones’ and the Peverells. The Malfoy wealth is just a drop in the ocean compared to ours.”

“The Longbottoms aren’t considered to be particularly wealthy.” Augusta chipped in with a frown.

“Not right now, no. However, with your move into the Black family, I imagine your potential wealth will soon come to be realised.”

“How so?” Alice asked.

“There is a vault for each house that has married into the Blacks.” Melania explained. “The house of Longbottom married into the house of Black long before Harfang and Callidora. It was told to them then, that the vault existed for their use, but they felt their own small fortune was enough. Upon marrying into the Black family, a bridal price is paid and placed into a vault to grow into a nice little egg nest for when that family may need use for it. Call it a long-term investment rather than a payment of marriage.”

“How long ago are we talking here?” Alice asked, genuinely interested in the history of the family in to which she had married.

“Well Callidora and Harfang married in the very early 1930s.” Irma answered, introducing herself into the conversation smoothly. Pollux’s wife had surprised Alice with her insight over the course of the evening. She’d assumed any wife of the horrid man would be cowed and mouse-like; but the former Crabbe heiress was sharp as a tack. “I remember their wedding was very simple and elegant. They were married in the rose gardens at Caddington Hall. It was a lovely day.”

“They married in 32.” Augusta chipped in, cutting off the other woman’s reminiscing. “I’ve heard Mother was considered old to be getting married at 17. I suppose times were different back then.”

“So that was only fifty or so years ago Augusta.” Melania tutted with her tongue. “Some of us had borne two children by then.” The small cluster of ladies chuckled at her dry wit before the topic was steered back onto the matter at hand. “The Black Archives stretch further back than the 1930s though, all the way to the very beginnings of our house, when Morgana bore a son to a Druid called Dubh at some point in the sixth century. Unfortunately the exact date was lost a couple of hundred years ago when we had a small manor fire but that is neither here nor there; there is a record of marriage for the fourteenth century for one Richard Longboteham to a Charis Noir, from the original French branch of our family and so the bridal price would have been paid around that time.”

“Your records stretch back to the sixth century?” Alice asked, shocked beyond measure at the idea of so much history. Melania chuckled at her surprise.

“They used to stretch back further. There wasn’t much for our ancestors to do back them apart from document the world they lived in. Our records are extensive but it is rumoured that the Peverell Archives stretch back to even before Camelot.”

“I can’t imagine having that much history.” Alice said with a shudder, unnerved at the thought of being beholden to her ancestors in such a way. “It’s kind of creepy.” She finally said, provoking chuckles from the three Black women and a knowing nod from Augusta. Harry, Neville and Draco all giggled along with the ladies and Alice raised her eyebrow at the three boys. “They’ve been very active tonight.” She said, looking towards her son and Harry in particular. “Neville has been a quiet baby and Harry has been subdued since Halloween.”

“The events of Samhain would have affected him.” Narcissa answered with a grimace, Melania having turned back to her previous conversation with the other two women. “He would know that something is different, and he’s more than likely feeling the loss of his mother.” Alice snuck a surreptitious look towards Lucius; which didn’t go unnoticed by Narcissa. “It’s okay to be nervous around us.” She said softly, lightly touching the top of Alice’s arm. “We ourselves didn’t know what to expect tonight, and I’m certain you didn’t count on this being a full family gathering. It will take some time for us to get to know one another, we’ve been on different sides for so long, it will take some getting used to.” She also snuck a look over to her husband, who seemed to be in deep conversation with Pollux; a dark look on his face. “For all of us.”

O_o_O_o_O

To his relief, everything seemed to be running smoothly as he glanced around the table. He should have expected that his grandfather would pull something like this. The man was far too cunning for him to keep up with sometimes. Nevertheless; Alice, Narcissa, his grandmothers and Augusta were holding court at the bottom end of the table; their charges in their laps and all chattering away merrily, Lucius, Pollux and Cygnus sat to their left, potions being their topic of discussion, his mate and Frank were entertaining Druella to their right which left him to deal with his grandfather. Arcturus had grilled him on some of the finer details for the night and he’d thanked Circe that he’d gone over the plan several times with Remus before they’d left Oxford.

“I’m not sure I want you returning to your flat after tonight.” Arcturus said with a frown, once they’d gone through the adoption vows. “How quickly can you be packed up to move?”

“We’ll need at least tomorrow.” Sirius replied. “But I’m certain we can be ready to move by the beginning of the week.”

“You have full use of the elves to make that happen.” Arcturus said with a nod. “You’ll be moving into The Orrery.”

“Caddington Hall?” Sirius confirmed in surprise. He knew that Arcturus himself had grown up in Caddington and the manor was much larger than he had expected to get given.

“The boys will enjoy the Planetarium and it will be nice to have the old place inhabited again.” Arcturus answered, smiling at his grandson’s shock. “The elf team is sizable and friendly and they’ll be at your disposal from tomorrow morning. I’ll introduce you to the senior elf before you leave for Oxford.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Sirius muttered. “Thank you, my Lord, for your generosity.”

“I must admit that it is a purely selfish move. I’m hoping you will allow me a visit or two to see the old place again?”

“You are welcome any time my Lord.” Sirius said with a small dip of his head. “In fact, I was hoping to talk to you about employing your services as the boys get older. I know the basics but it would be good for the boys to learn their politics and house law from one of our world’s most powerful political members.”

“You have them Sirius. I am also offering to teach you everything I know. You’ll be in my position one day and it will be good for you to build your skills now as opposed to diving in blind when I’m gone. We can start whenever you are ready and we’ll build you up to attending Wizengamot sessions as my heir.”

“It would be an honour sir.”

“Would it?” Arcturus asked with a raised eyebrow and he held his grandson’s gaze with steely eyes. “You vowed never to follow house protocol again Sirius. When you left, I was in danger of casting you out therefore, you are very lucky to be sat here this evening. You told me to my face that you didn’t wish to be associated with us anymore.” Sirius knew that this was the make and break moment of his life, their meeting had glossed over his abandonment of the old ways and he knew that if his grandfather wasn’t pleased with the next words out of his mouth, this whole situation would stop dead in the water and they would be back to where they were three weeks ago.

“When I came to you all those years ago, I wanted nothing to do with my parents.” He said truthfully. “I was an angry teenager who continued to make stupid decisions over the years that followed. I fully understand what I did that day and will accept any and all punishments you wish to prescribe, but I am not lying when I say that it would be an honour to be considered for your tutelage. You have always held strong in your belief that it is family before all else and if you weren’t in the position you are now, I wouldn’t have even considered coming back. I approached you because you are a just Lord, and I know that you will do what is best for this family, whatever may come of it.” Arcturus took a moment before nodding his acceptance and Sirius let out a breath, he hadn’t even known he was holding.

“Before anything else we need to work on your Occlumency shields and your mask. You are projecting so loudly my wife can hear your thoughts from the other end of the table.” At the mention of her name, Melania glanced over and shot them a smile, swiftly returning to her conversations with the rest of the ladies. Arcturus smiled fondly before turning back to Sirius. “I accepted you as my heir all those years ago Sirius, and I stand by that decision. You will be good for our house, and you certainly have the balls to pull it off. No wonder the hat painted you a lion.” Sirius flushed at that and nodded his head in thanks. “Do not think that because you are here, I have fully forgiven you, nor that I trust you, that will take time to build, but I am confident you will not let me down.” A confirmation tumbled out before Sirius could stop it, punctuated by his thanks and reassurances. The Black Lord smiled and nodded, showing that the conversation was now closed. “So, tell me about your choice of name for Harrison.” He said, diverting the subject into less dicey waters.

It seemed that it was going to take some time for things to settle into some new kind of normal and he was content in his decision to allow his grandson back into the family. He knew that the word ‘Parley’ had been bandied about since their discussion on Wednesday and he was honest enough to admit that it wasn’t far off the mark. Only time would tell if his grandson and mate were worth the risk; after all it wasn’t every day the world’s saviour was dropped at your feet.

O_o_O_o_O

Whilst the Black family were dining, preparing themselves for what could turn out to be the most important event of the last century; the eldest of three sisters sat in a barely lit dining room of a French Manor house. They had decided to lie low after their failed attempt to question the Longbottoms, three weeks ago and she was starting to get bored. Again.

Only last week they’d had to take her out for some fun, and they’d ended up barely escaping as the French aurors had descended the moment she’d cast her first AK. Obviously, the French ministry had more of its shit in one sock compared to its counterpart in Britain and her husband, brother-in-law and their fucktoy had decided that they would not go out for fun again.

Bella was a little saner than people gave her credit for. She’d gained a reputation for madness before she’d made her third year of Hogwarts and it was an image, she had continued to cultivate to give herself an edge on the battlefield. It wasn’t her fault that the majority of the wizarding public were mice. She’d cast her first Crucio at twelve, her first AK at fourteen and had mastered her control over feindfyre at fifteen. Aunt Walburga had been so proud of her for that one. She’d loved her Aunt and Uncle and she hoped her Aunt was doing okay after what had happened at Samhain. Her mark had felt like it was going to burn right through her arm, and when the pain had stopped the skull and snake had faded to a dull grey colour. She’d panicked, they all had; and the decision to go to Longbottoms had been one made in haste and stupidity. So, now they were camped out here; in some dingy manor in France, waiting for news from Britain and Merlin and Morgana she was so bored.

The three men were arguing again and she knew she wouldn’t be able to take much more without snapping and killing them. She stood abruptly, her chair screeching backwards and their heads whipped around to her in shock, as if they’d forgotten she was even in the house.

“You three can stay here and squabble like children, but I’m bored and I need some fun before I end up taking my wand to the lot of you. I’ll be back in an hour so be good and go to bed.” And with that she flounced off in a swirl of black lace and curls. She’d pulled on her boots and was tucking her hair into her cloak hood before her husband finally appeared in the hallway, and she was not going to be deterred from her goal of having some fun.

“Bella be reasonable.” He started, instantly getting her back up. “The aurors here will arrest you before you can get a second spell off and this isn’t Britain where we can just pay the Minister to get you out.”

“You underestimate me _husband_.” She spat, the gleam in her eyes warning him to back off. “There’s more than one way to kill a muggle and if you don’t want to be next then I suggest you and your brother take your fucktoy off to bed with you. I’ll be back in an hour.” She slammed the door behind her and took a deep breath of the cold, late night air. She hated France with a passion, but it did give her the advantage of anonymity. She couldn’t move freely in Britain anymore, not since her face had been plastered on posters everywhere. There were even rumours that their photos had been released to the muggles. It was a nightmare.

She set off down the dirt track that led from the manor to the main road before apparating at the edge of the wards. Landing in the centre of Paris, she set off a few _bombardas_ before apparating to her second location. She ripped through the centre of Dieppe before moving to her final target; Calais. Half an hour later she was tucked up back in her bed at the manor with a smile on her face.

If she’d realised what her actions had caused, Bellatrix LeStrange might not have fallen asleep so happily. If she’d realised what her actions were about to cost her, Bellatrix might have feared for her life. They say that you should never let the lamb see the knife, as it spoils the meat. The shitstorm that was heading for the LeStranges and their stowaway would have no such compunctions. The end of the LeStrange line was growing near.

O_o_O_o_O

There was a huge clang as the instruments monitoring Privet Drive literally exploded on his side desk, shocking the residents of his office. Minerva and Severus stared wide-eyed at the destruction before turning that shock to him as one hundred and twenty years of learning curse words was put to good use.

“Please excuse me I have somewhere else to be.” He muttered before grabbing for Fawkes and flaming out of the room in a ball of fire.

“The Potter brat?” Severus asked with a raised eyebrow and Minerva nodded faintly; her nerves on end as she prayed that Sirius’s plan had worked.

Dumbledore landed on the street to see the house already engulfed in flames and his heart lurched in his chest. He hurried towards the burning building, not even bothering to change his robes into something more inconspicuous.

“What the hell happened?” He shouted at the first person he saw; a woman who was running out of the house next door, shepherding her husband and two kids.

“An awful explosion.” she shrieked back before shouting after him as he ran into the house, casting a flame freezer and a bubblehead on his way through the door. The inside was wrecked already, flames billowing over the roof and the door to the under-stair’s cupboard was hanging off and mangled. The remains of what looked like a child where already starting to blacken and casting an identification spell had his worst fears becoming realised.

Harry Potter was dead.

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius let out a relieved laugh when the magic settled and his new son smiled at him and held up his arms to be plucked from Augusta’s grip. Sirius tossed Harrison into the air with a joyous laugh and the babe’s giggles were music to the ears of the room’s occupants. There were three cracks of apparition and Remus, Alice and Frank landed in the informal lounge with satisfied expressions.

“The bodies have burnt and the wards have been blown. Dumbledore should already be on the move.” Remus said, looking towards Arcturus as he gave his report. His attention soon changed however when Sirius dumped a black haired and silver eyed child into his arms and his wolf immediately cried out to its new cub. Harrison Cadmus Black was the most beautiful child Remus had ever laid eyes on. His hair was silky and now brushing past his ears in soft waves, his eyes were a stormy silver and even through his puppy fat you could see that he’d inherited Sirius’s cheekbones and chin.

“Say hello to our new puppy.” Sirius said with a huge grin.

“You make it sound as though you’ve bought a dog.” Melania tutted as she stood and reached out to take Harrison into her own arms. “You _are_ a beauty little Raven.” She said, kissing him on the forehead before depositing him back into Remus’s arms. “I have a feeling he’s going to change our world.” The knowing look in her eye would have concerned the new parents if it wasn’t partnered with a large smile.

“You need to sign the documents Mr Lupin.” Arcturus said from his armchair by the fire. He held out a black quill, made no doubt from a feather from one of his two ravens and Remus wasted no time in dropping Harrison into his mate’s arms to take the quill and sign his loopy signature on the heavy parchment. Arcturus dripped some black wax onto the bottom of the form, pressing his headship ring into it and nodding approvingly when the parchment turned gold and disappeared. “Everything is in order so all that is left is for me to wish you my congratulations.” He stood up and held out his hand before another crack of apparition had all of them turning in the direction of their unexpected guest.

Cassiopeia Black was already dripping blood onto the carpet by the time Pollux reached his sister. It was the first time that night he’d shown any form of emotion that evening; other than disdain, and he steadied his younger sibling as the blood loss got to her.

“Who did this to you mon Violette?” He asked frantically once he’d sat her in a chair so Melania and Druella could start to seal her head wound.

“The Chateaux is breached.” She slurred back.

“I can see that Cassie. But by who?”

“Bellatrix LeStrange.”


	7. Keeping it in the Family

**I'm so sorry for the wait on this chapter, I have no excuses, I will do better at updating.**

* * *

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Seven – Keeping it in the Family

The bright lights of the St Mungo’s corridor where starting to strain his already tired eyes and he rubbed them for what felt like the fifth time in as many minutes. How in the name of Morgana had everything gone to shit? They’d been happy, the house magic was happy, hell even his grandfather looked pleased with the proceedings of the adoption and now? This.

They should have expected it really, he mused. After Samhain and the failed attack on the Longbottoms, Bella was bound to be wound tighter than a spring, but the reports they had received from one of Melania’s contacts in France told of destruction in Paris, Dieppe _and_ Calais. She was completely off her head.

He mused back to his childhood memories of her; his older cousin. She had been a regular visitor to Grimmauld and had quickly become the daughter his mother never had. She’d fed from his mother’s psychotic tendencies and the result had been a woman who was dragonshit insane with a malicious streak; a mile wide and, homicidal tendencies to match. She’d been the perfect candidate for the Dark Lord. A shining example of what his death eaters should aspire to be. He’d groomed her to perfection, praising her for the most heinous of crimes and turning her into his most rabid attack dog.

“How is she?” Sirius asked, getting to his feet as Arcturus shut the door to the private room behind him. There had been a split second to register what Cassiopeia had said before her eyes had rolled into the back of her head and tremors had racked her body. The doctors had called it a seizure and the immediate outlook had been grim when they’d initially made it to St Mungo’s.

“Not good.” The Black lord replied heavily. Despite his almost perfect mask; Sirius could see the strain around his grandfather’s eyes. It had been a long night. “Better to speak of this elsewhere however.” And Sirius nodded in understanding; the Blacks didn’t air their laundry in public. “They aren’t expecting any change in her condition so you should go back to the manor and get some rest.” He nodded again; not knowing how else to respond and glanced over to the apparition point.

“Tonight, was supposed to be a good night.” He said with a sigh. “Tonight, was supposed to be the start of something new. Something _better._ ”

“And it will be my boy.” Arcturus said softly, placing his hand on his grandson’s shoulder in comfort. “This transgression will not go unpunished but, you should focus on your son and your mate. We’re getting old, all of us and soon; this house will be in _your_ hands. Focus on what is to come, not what has happened.”

“Toujours Pur.” Sirius said with a grim smile.

“Exactly. Now go and get some rest. We have work to do come the morn.”

O_o_O_o_O

Edward Tonks rushed to the front hall when he heard his wife crash through the door and shout for him. He came face to face with a grey faced, black haired, silver eyed Andromeda who proceeded to almost collapse into his arms. He gently removed her cloak and with the help of a little wandless magic managed to get her situated in an armchair in their living room. His wife seemed almost catatonic so he summoned the brandy and poured her a large, four fingered measure.

He hadn’t seen his wife in her base form since their wedding, and the fact that she seemed to have reverted to it now meant that something big had happened within the family. Though her core was almost completely cut of from the Black’s family magic; he that knew she could still feel large events through the few strands left, deaths, births and the such all affected her, but he’d never seen her this bad.

“Talk to me my love.” He said softly, brushing her black hair away from her face and cupping her cheek tenderly. “What’s happened?” She shook her head and downed her drink, passing the glass back to him for a top up, which he immediately granted. A few minutes and some small sips later and she nodded to tell him she was okay.

“Great Aunt Cass was brought into the hospital.” She said stiffly. “The word around is that Bella was involved. They say she might not make it through the night.”

“Has Arcturus…” Andromeda shook her head, cutting off his question.

“Asked specifically not to contact me. They told him I was on duty but he refused my presence.” That stung; Ted thought darkly. He knew how close to her great aunt his wife had been. Cassiopeia was the Black family’s polymath; she knew everything about most things and everything else about _everyone_ , she was someone his wife had looked up to as a child and the thought of anything happening to her was obviously tearing Andromeda apart.

There was a knock at the door and she instantly jumped to her feet, swaying slightly through her still lingering shock and the eight fingers of Napoleonic brandy she had just consumed. He kissed her on the head before moving to answer the door, praying to whatever deity came to mind that this wasn’t bad news. His eyes widened as he opened the door to reveal Narcissa of all people; dressed in a simple but elegant and obviously muggle dress and more importantly; _alone._

“Did she make it home okay?” She asked, stepping into the house despite Ted’s lack of invitation. “I was worried about her apparating.” He nodded, vaguely aware of the sigh of relief the statuesque blonde seemed to let out. She towed off her black stilettoes on the hall mat and wandered through to the living room where Andromeda was still stood in front of her armchair. Narcissa wasted no time in enveloping her older sister in a hug and she guided Andromeda back down into the armchair, taking the glass and sniffing it with an approving look. “I’ll bring another bottle next week.” She promised with a smile. “I came to talk about Aunt Cass.”

“Was Bella really involved?” Andy asked, reaching out her hand to her husband who appeared in the doorway with another glass for their unexpected visitor.

“From what we know Bella went on a rampage through three major French cities earlier tonight.” Narcissa replied honestly. “It seemed just unfortunate that Auntie got caught in the crossfire. Because Bella is a Black; the wards around the Chateaux Noir’s annex allowed her curses through. Auntie had just finished dining with some friends, and was about to Floo back to the main house when the room exploded around her. Grandfather Pollux has gone to assess the damage and Arcturus has not left her side.”

“Except to deny my wife the right to see her Aunt.” Ted said coldly. “He managed _that_ alright.”

“There’s things going on right now that could become a political disaster for the house.” Narcissa responded, speaking to her sister rather than her husband. “Uncle Arc is just trying to keep things as down low as possible. I’ve come to take you to see her.”

“It’s almost midnight.” Ted protested. “Our daughter is upstairs and we both have work tomorrow.”

“I’m going.” Andy said, standing once more and striding through to the hall, pulling her cloak back on and stuffing her still black hair under the hood. “I don’t care what time it is; Aunt Cass was always there for me when I needed her.” Ted huffed at that; it still stung that his wife had been cast out of the family over their marriage, but he had to admit that the pay-out she had been given by Arcturus was sizable. It wasn’t common knowledge that his wife had been contracted to Lucius before they had fallen in love, and he wondered whether Narcissa felt any bitterness towards them in having been offered as a substitute for her older sister. This clearly wasn’t the first time the blonde had been to their house; she’d found the living room easily enough, but it was the first he knew of it. Obviously, his wife wasn’t as cut off from her family as she seemed. The two women strode out of the door without even a glance over their shoulder and he knew that it was time to contact his own sister.

_This_ was news she needed to hear.

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius pulled on his old jogging bottoms and slid under the sheets, facing his mate and sandwiching Harrison between them. Remus had quite clearly fallen asleep some time ago with his arm slung over their son, who was quite contently sucking on a thumb and looking painfully adorable. Sirius turned to reach over into his night bag on the bedside table and pulled out a dummy, gently removing Harry’s thumb and replacing it with the soother. The dark-haired boy didn’t even much as frown and a smile crossed his lips at the peaceful expression on his charge’s face. He’d not slept well since Samhain. He’d not cried either but still, on the nights Sirius had failed to find sleep he’d checked on Harry only to find a pair of sad green eyes looking back at him. Those eyes were long gone now, burned away by the potion they had fed the babe, and he questioned again whether he’d done the right thing.

If Sirius Black had known what was taking place at his Oxford flat at that moment; he wouldn’t have had these thoughts running through his mind. If he’d known who was poking around, getting more and more frustrated, he would have no second thoughts about his actions. But as it was, he was tucked up in a huge bed, in the guest room of the manor, clutching his son to his chest and watching his mate sleep soundly.

O_o_O_o_O

Amelia frowned to herself as she signed the paperwork that would seal her decision. With the disappearance of the Longbottoms she felt she had no choice but to take over her family seat for good, forfeiting the position she had been fighting for these past years. Alastor had told her time and time again that she would make an excellent head of the department, and she had thought that it was what she had wanted, but with the political landscape in the state that it was; she knew that she couldn’t afford to let another grey house fade into obscurity.

She told herself that she was doing this for her niece, who was quite happily sleeping in the nursery upstairs with numerous monitoring charms placed on her; but at almost one in the morning and with three fingers of scotch warming her stomach, Amelia could be honest with herself. She just didn’t want to see another two votes go to waste. She didn’t want Albus Dumbledore to gain more power than he already had.

The sight of Privet Drive burning had ignited a fire inside of her. One she hadn’t even realised was smouldering. She was livid that the saviour of their world had been dumped into the care of _muggles._ Oh, she had no problems with them, but even she could see that they were ill equipped for raising a magical child. The orphanage she was a patron of was proof of how muggles could treat their magical children as more times than not, the matron was called to St Mungo’s to collect children who had been rescued from abusive homes on the other side of the magical barrier. Children whose only crimes were random bursts of accidental magic.

The fact that Dumbledore thought that the Dursleys were adequate carers for the wizarding world’s saviour was horrifying. The fact that Harry Potter had been found in the cupboard under the stairs, rather than in the second bedroom, just compounded the error in his judgement. She wondered what had happened to the Potter will as surely, Lily would rather have had Harry go to his godfather than her muggle sister.

As she stamped her new head of house ring into the grey wax on the parchment, Amelia knew deep in her soul that she was doing the right thing.

O_o_O_o_O

An arm was needed to quickly steady her sister when Andy caught sight of their Aunt. Cassiopeia’s head was wound in bandages and her grey pallor and shallow breathing displayed; quite clearly, what condition she was in. They weren’t certain if she was going to make it through the night, and even less certain about the state she would be in if she did.

“Come and sit my child.” Arcturus said softly from the other side of the bed, conjuring a pair of armchairs. Andromeda looked to her sister before realising that it was _her_ Arcturus had meant the endearment for and Narcissa nodded, reassuring her that it was okay to approach the head of the Black family. Her great uncle looked old, worn even; though his posture had lost none of the authority it commanded. She hesitantly approached the chair next to him and sat, flinching unconsciously away from his hand as he went to touch her shoulder. His expression grew pained, and it wasn’t until Narcissa had taken the seat next to her and had gripped her hand tightly that she thought to nod to the Lord and offer the customary greeting of their house motto.

“How is she doing?” She asked, before he could comment on her skittishness. In her defence; she was tired, and the last time she had seen her great uncle had been at her disownment.

“She suffered a great head wound my young Nova.” He replied softly; her childhood nickname slipping past his lips before he could stop himself. “They say that she may sleep for a long time.” He glanced at his youngest niece, sat on the other side of her big sister and gripping her hand as if clinging onto life itself. He knew that the two women had been in contact; Narcissa dropping off a bottle of something from his own personal stores every three months or so. Though it was a comfort that Andromeda hadn’t been completely alone; it still didn’t lessen the pain of the decision he had been forced to make nearly a decade ago.

_He started as the door to his study was flung open and Pollux dragged in his youngest granddaughter by her long, brown hair; moving around the desk and dumping her at his feet, where she fell heavily; broken sobs leaving her body. He felt fury rise in his chest at his cousin’s treatment of the child and would have lashed out if his worry hadn’t surpassed his rage._

_“Tell him.” Pollux spat nastily, nudging her side with his boot. “Tell him of your disgrace.” She lifted her head to meet his gaze; her wet, brown eyes melting away into the silver of her base form, her hair lengthening and darkening; as it always did in his presence._

_“Get out.” He snapped at his cousin; who sneered and went to grab hold of Andromeda’s hair. “Not her.” He barked sharply. “Just you. Out of this study before I force you out.” Pollux sneered again, this time at him; before the younger man’s sense of self-preservation kicked in and he strode out of the study._

_When the door had slammed shut, he reached out to grip his niece’s shoulder; hoping to help her up and into a chair; but his beloved Nova flinched violently away from him and all but fled to the other side of the room. He reached out with his magic and locked the door, trapping her inside the study and he stood up from his desk, his hands outwards in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. She looked a mess. Even from his position he could see the large bruises starting to appear on her arms and face, and a split in her lip had dripped blood onto the front of her blouse._

_“I know you are scared sweetheart.” He said softly. “But I promise that whatever it is you need to tell me, I won’t hurt you. Have I ever given you cause to doubt me?” After a minute or two she shook her head. “Then won’t you join me over here so that I may tend to you?” It took a while but finally she managed to force herself over to him and he took her into his arms, rubbing her shoulder and calming her down with words of comfort. Merlin she was only fifteen. He thought, and set to marry that Malfoy slime as soon as she left her schooling._

_She finally calmed herself down and sniffed, drawing back from him and wiping her eyes. She nodded to let him know that she was okay before her mask went up and she moved to sit in the armchair opposite him._

_“I have failed you my Lord.” She said meekly, fidgeting in her seat despite her expression of forced calm. “I will accept my punishment as you will it.”_

_“Tell me, my sweet Nova.” He said softly, but brokering no room for excuses._

_“I have fallen in love with someone.” She almost whispered. “Bellatrix caught us kissing.” And wasn’t_ that _hypocritical of her sister she thought bitterly. Bella had been contracted away to one of the LeStrange twins at the age of thirteen, yet had been involved with so many boys and girls during her school years that she’d lost track of her elder sister’s dramas._

_“Well that isn’t so bad.” He said with a smile. “If he is of decent blood, we can renegotiate our contract with Abraxas.”_

_“He’s of no blood.” Andromeda replied, her eyes filled with guilt and shame. “He is a muggleborn and a Hufflepuff, and he is the person I want to marry.” Well that changed things; Arcturus thought weakly._

_“Who else knows of this?”_

_“Just about half the school since Bella decided to declare it in the great hall. We fought in the courtyard. Our Parley hadn’t meant to come to wands!” She started to rush her words out, the sordid tale spilling from her lips like a horror novel. “I only wanted to speak with them uncle, I wanted to explain but Bella cursed me with words and then her wand. I had no choice!”_

_“Were any of you hurt?” He asked; his mind racing to keep up with his niece’s stilted story. This was bad. A Parley coming to wands in Hogwarts was publicity the house didn’t need, not even counting the fact that his beloved Nova seemed Hel bent on running off with a muggleborn._

_“No. We wouldn’t hurt each other my Lord you know that!” Tears were running down her cheeks and disappointment and guilt for what he knew was going to come next wormed their way into his stomach._

_“You truly love this boy?” He asked tightly, feeling the house magic respond to his need for an honest answer and concentrating itself around the child in front of him._

_“Yes uncle. He is the one I am going to marry.” He sighed before swearing under his breath. Andromeda snapped to look up at him with fearful eyes and he waved her panic off._

_“It is not your fault Nova.” He said softly. “I know that. But recompense will have to be made here if you are going to live your life with the one you love.”_

_“Will you cast me out?” She asked, scared. “Grandfather said you would. That you wouldn’t want my disgrace to taint our name and our family.”_

_“You will not be abandoned my child.” He said softly, his heart breaking at the hope in her eyes. “But I fear that neither of us will get much of a choice in the matter. The Malfoys have started to wield some serious political power in the last years, and Abraxas will not let this go without something done.”_

_“So, its true then?”_

_“I’m afraid so my sweet Nova.” He said sadly, moving around to crouch down at the side of her chair. “But I will make it as painless as I possibly can, and there might be a way to make sure the family magic doesn’t leave you completely. It will require great concentration from both of us though.”_

_“I won’t lose my morphing?” She asked fearfully; the hope in her eyes painful._

_“I don’t know sweetheart.” That at least was an honest answer. “I really don’t.” She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Does this boy of yours have a family you can go to?”_

_“He has parents and a younger sister.”_

_“Is she magical?” Andromeda shook her head and he cursed inwardly. “Do they know you?” Another shake of her head. “Do you know where they live at least?”_

_“London.” She whispered. “In Crawley I think.”_

_“Is there anyway you can contact him?”_

_“I can send an owl but it will take a couple of days.” He nodded and smoothed her hair, placing a kiss on the top of her head._

_“You are staying here until then.” He said softly. “I will not have you go back to your grandfather for him to put you in this state. Now why don’t you go with Nip whilst I deal with him?” The elf in question appeared with a crack as soon as its name was called and Andromeda nodded, taking hold of the elf’s hand and disappearing with the creature._

_Once they were gone, he sagged behind his desk and held his head in his hands. He knew that there wasn’t going to be another way to fix this and almost seventy years’ worth of curse words echoed through his head._

A soft sob brought him back to the present and he watched as Andromeda practically folded into Narcissa’s arms. The youngest of Cygnus’ daughters comforted her big sister as apologies left Andromeda at a rate of knots.

He knew that something had happened with his niece that he had yet to understand; rumours of a pregnancy but no child had reached him merely two years ago and his heart had cried out for her pain, even though she was too cut off from the family magic for him to feel it. She couldn’t lose her aunt Cass, not after that. He frowned and stood up, nodding at Narcissa who still had her sister wrapped in her arms and he left to find the first healer he could lay his hands on. There had to be something he could do.

O_o_O_o_O

A group of onlookers might have been inclined to call the police. A group of onlookers might have attempted to stop him. A group of onlookers might have thought he was simply a crazy old man, but at well past one in the morning, Dumbledore was left to his own devices as he continued to pace the pavement outside of a darkened Oxford flat, muttering profanity to himself.

This was bad; he thought as he continued to pace, possible scenarios running through his head. If the mutt and his pet wolf had discovered any of his machinations it could spell the end of the war. His prized pawn was dead and the other child of the prophecy was long gone from the shores of Britain, and therefore out of his reach. Had he put too many eggs in one basket, by counting on the child being Harry Potter? He had told the Longbottoms that they would be safe behind the ancient wards of their Yorkshire manor, whilst he’d set the Potter’s up as the more tempting target by hiding them behind the Fidelus. He knew that if Voldemort thought _he_ believed the prophetic child to be Harry Potter then the Dark Lord would _make_ Harry Potter the prophetic child. He just hadn’t counted on the mutt to up and leave.

A brief worry flitted through his brain that Sirius had returned to his family, before he shook his head at his own stupidity. He’d made sure that the Black heir was firmly in his camp, and had created a firm follower in the werewolf. No, Sirius Black was too impulsive to have the forethought of returning to his Grandfather’s side. He’d probably dragged Remus out to chase after his crazy cousins, and they were out hunting the Dark Lord’s followers. He’d call back again in the morning to break the news of Harry’s death to them, for now he needed a mug of hot chocolate and his bed. He turned on the spot, apparating with a tiny crack.

O_o_O_o_O

Lucius collapsed heavily into his desk chair and sighed. It was far too late for him to still be awake, never mind having to deal with paperwork. He had to concede that Cygnus had a point though, in light of Bella’s transgressions that night, Draco would be far better off within the Black family unit. The whole family was about to walk into a political shit storm, and the only thing that had a chance to save his wife and son, was for them to re-integrate themselves with Arcturus Black. He knew that Arcturus had never been his biggest fan, the Black lord didn’t even like his father all that much, but he considered himself an asset to the Blacks, especially when dealing with matters concerning Cygnus’s daughters.

“You’re working late.” He jumped; startled at his father’s voice. Abraxas was sat nonchalantly in one of the armchairs by the fire; a book in his hand and his silver eyes glinting in the firelight.

“A lot has happened.” Lucius replied tiredly; rubbing his eyes and getting up to move to the seat opposite his father.

“How did dinner with the Blacks go?”

“The mutt heir has adopted a boy.” Vows taken in haste after the adoption of Harry meant that though he couldn’t reveal that it was the Potter brat Sirius had adopted, he could tell people that there _had_ been an adoption. “They say that he is Marius Black’s grandchild.”

“The squib?” His father asked; his eyebrows raising. “Was he there?”

“He declined the offer to attend. He knows what his return to Britain would say about the family. He knows that he puts their power at risk if they seem to show favour to him.”

“They’re all mental.” His father said, shaking his head. “I regret ever getting tangled up in their house politics. I respect Arcturus enough but, the way he runs their house is strange. You’re either a part of the family or not, and even if they disown you, you are still considered part of their fold.” He knew of his father’s thoughts about the way Arcturus had handled Andromeda’s disownment. Though the old Black had cut contact; his wife still spent time at her sister’s, often delivering gifts from her great uncle and it had always rubbed Abraxas up the wrong way that despite her transgression; Andromeda was still treated as family.

“I don’t regret your decision regarding my wife.” And wasn’t that the truth? He had always seen the middle child of the Black sisters to be somewhat weaker compared to the fiery temper of Bella and the ice-cold mask of Narcissa, so it had come as a relief when their contract had been renegotiated. “Narcissa and I are very happy, and our son will grow up powerful and respected because of her.” Abraxas snorted at that.

“You let her too much free reign in this house. She should remember who she is.”

“I rather think that it is _you_ who should remember who I am father.” Lucius winced at his wife’s cold tone, and he felt her magic brush against his father’s. “Or have you forgotten that the house of Black holds primacy in regards to my marriage to your son?” She stepped away from his study door and approached them, kneeling down in front of the fire, her legs tucked underneath her body. That was his wife; he thought proudly; always poised, always elegant and always deadly. “Lucius remains flexible in our marriage because he is a smart man. Are you a smart man Lord Malfoy?” One of her eyebrows was raised delicately and even Lucius had to give her a mental pat on the back.

“I like to think so; daughter of my heart.” Lucius winced at _that_ stupid move. Narcissa had called Abraxas nothing but father since their marriage, so for her to use his title, signified her displeasure with the man; something his father seemingly hadn’t picked up on. Lucius shivered slightly as Narcissa’s magic whipped around the room, and he was sure the temperature had dropped. It was an after effect of their bonding. Arcturus had insisted on a bonding of the old ways, so they had sliced their palms and held hands as they took their marriage vows. The consequence; was that they were completely in tune with each other’s magic, and by extension he could feel the Black’s family magic, though his sense of it was somewhat limited.

“You insult me, in my own house none the less and then have the audacity to believe you may still call me _daughter_?” This was not good. He’d been able to feel how on edge his wife had been, ever since she had entered The Aviarium’s wards and his father’s clumsy, Gryffindor-like approach had sent her way over that edge. “It is currently two in the morning and you are sat here bold as brass in our home, what is it that you want Lord Malfoy?” Abraxas had gone sheet white. Not even he, could miss the amount of magic rolling off of the young woman in angry waves. So, he did the wise thing and beat a hasty retreat, muttering apologies as he slipped out of the study and apparated from the Aviarium with a crack.

“Was that really necessary?” Lucius asked of his wife with a raised eyebrow of his own. He almost laughed when his wife turned to him, fury on her face.

“Your grandfather has a lot to answer for.” She snarled. He cracked up at that and held his arms out for his wife, who promptly deflated and moved to sit on his lap.

“How’s your sister?” He asked gently, when his amusement had dissipated and Narcissa had relaxed into his arms, her anger slipping away.

“Devastated, angry, shocked and about ready to murder Bella.”

“And you’re not?” He asked, amusement filling him once more. “Admit it my love, you want nothing more than to run off to France and stab the crazy bitch.”

“That is my sister you are referring to.” Narcissa said icily and Lucius chuckled again before dipping his head.

“I am sorry.”

“No, you aren’t.” He tightened his embrace on her as she sighed and leaned into his shoulder.

“No, I am not.” They sat for a while like that; in a comfortable silence, watching the flames dance in the hearth and their thoughts drifting in separate ways. Lucius wondered as to what business his father had in his study, and his eyes widened as he remembered the book that lay in his desk. He gently pushed his wife up with a curse; ignoring her indignant sound, and stumbled to his desk, ripping open his top drawer frantically.

It was gone.

O_o_O_o_O

“What do you think happens next?” Alice asked quietly. The unfamiliarity of the room, and the fact that the manor all but buzzed with the family magic of the Blacks, had been keeping her awake; and by the sound of his breathing she knew her husband had failed to find sleep as well.

“I expect we’ll be moved into this manor by Monday and then promptly forgotten about.” Her husband said dryly.

“I meant about Cassiopeia.” Alice replied, frowning in the darkness at her husband’s tone and the fact that the feel of the Black’s magic shifted at his response.

“Why should we care? We’re on the outskirts of the family Alice, we won’t get to know things like that.” The magic around her almost roared its protest and she groaned, her hands coming up to her ears to block out the noise. Thankfully Frank seemed to take her groan as one of annoyance at him, and seemed blissfully unaware of the mood of the manor. She turned over, placing her back and a good hand of covers between her and her husband and closed her eyes, committing herself to at least attempt to get some sleep.


	8. The Battle of the Blacks Part One

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Eight – The Battle of the Blacks Part One

“So, what happens now?” Sirius asked quietly, taking his seat at the dinner table where a huge breakfast had been laid out. After the events of the previous night and the early hours of the morning, the entire family, minus the Malfoys had stayed the night in the manor; Arcturus wanting to keep them all close after Bellatrix’s attack.

“We continue as planned.” He replied stoically, though Sirius could see the strain in his eyes. He thought back to their conversation the night previous and realised that maybe Arcturus had a point, none of the older generation were young men or women anymore, and in his duties as heir; it was his responsibility to take some of the weight from the Lord Black’s shoulders. “You are to return and collect your things today, we move you into the Orrery and nothing is said of what transpired last night. As far as anyone outside of this room is concerned; Cassiopeia Black is still in France.”

“But she was seen being brought to Mungo’s.” Remus said quietly. “People are going to talk.”

“I’ve already handled that.” Arcturus replied with a grim nod. “No one can talk of what they don’t remember. And Cass has already been moved to one of our smaller estates and is being treated by some of the best healers in Britain. Most importantly, the only ones who know she is there; apart from us of course, will not remember a thing once they leave the wards. We’ve housed them all for the foreseeable future and once she wakes and is back on her feet, we can discuss her care in more detail. For now, she is well attended and secret.” Remus could only nod at the man’s admittance of what had transpired at the hospital. He knew that he shouldn’t be shocked at the lengths the Black family would go to, to look after one of their own however, it had caught him off guard.

“I’m staying here.” Sirius said quietly. Remus, Frank and Alice shot him a look, but Augusta was nodding her head in what looked like a mixture of acceptance and pride. “It is my duty to take some of the weight from your shoulders my Lord, and how better to learn than on the job?” Arcturus nodded once in acceptance and Remus took hold of his hand under the table; squeezing it gently to reassure him.

“I’ll have Harry. Do what you need to do and we’ll meet you at the manor later.”

“Very well then.” Melania said brightly. “If we are all in agreement perhaps it is time to start the day’s proceedings. I’m coming to Oxford with you, to ensure everything goes without a hitch, and to cast an eye over the state of The Orrery and it’s elves.” She stood up from the table; smoothing out her pale blue robes before lifting Harry from his high chair; where she had been feeding him a bowl of sweetened porridge. “Come on then, byhan Bran _(little Raven)_. Let’s get you ready to go.” On her apparent cue, the Longbottoms gave their thanks to Arcturus; before following the Black matriarch out of the dining room.

“I’ll see you later.” Remus said softly, standing up and squeezing his mate’s shoulder affectionately.

“Don’t wait up for me if I’m late in.” Sirius replied with a smile. “I have a feeling we’ll be busy.” At Arcturus’s subtle nod Remus knew that he wouldn’t see his mate until the next morning.

“Thank you for your hospitality last night my Lord. And for the opportunities and security you are giving to us. We are grateful for it, and know that it isn’t without conditions. Sirius and I will meet each and every one of those conditions, and I hope, in time, we will prove ourselves worthy of the Black family.”

“Well said Wolf Lupin.” Arcturus was smiling his approval and Sirius gave his mate a mental pat on the back for his words. “Go now and see that my Lady wife doesn’t make off with the little one. I fear she may be growing far too attached to the boy to let him out of her sight for long.” Remus grinned at that and placed his hand over his heart, bowing slightly and giving the Black’s customary salutation of the house motto, before turning to follow the rest of the group from the room.

“Now down to business.” Arcturus said once the door to the dining room had closed. “Nip!” The elf in question popped in and started to clear the breakfast dishes whilst the rest of the Blacks moved positions into seats around their Lord, at the head of what was effectively now, a conference table. Sirius stayed on Arcturus’s right as Pollux took the seat to his left, his wife sitting down beside him. Cygnus and Druella sat on the other side of Sirius; and Arcturus was about to start when the door opened once more.

Narcissa looked as though she hadn’t slept a wink all night, but despite the exhaustion in her eyes, she was immaculately dressed in what Sirius could only describe as battle robes (well, battle robes if the Wizengamot chamber was considered a battleground and the rest of the houses were the oncoming army. Sirius could tell you that they were silver, blue and black, her trousers looked as though they had been painted on and her boots were knee length and leather.) Her hair was tied into a warrior braid, and her posture screamed of determination as she stared down her house lord from the doorway.

“You should be sleeping child.” Arcturus said softly, standing up, worry coating his posture.

“She is my sister, and I have information that you will be _very_ interested to hear.” It was clear to Sirius that she wasn’t going to give in and he shot a look at his grandfather who seemed to easily wilt under Cygnus’s youngest’s scrutiny. “Besides.” She started as she moved to sit beside Irma, ignoring the fact that Arcturus was still on his feet. “You had as little sleep as I did, and _you_ are still here.”

“Mind your cheek in front of your Lord.” Pollux sneered and Arcturus shot him a reproachful look as anger flashed through Narcissa’s dark silver eyes.

“So now that we are all here.” He continued, choosing to move things quickly along before the young woman snapped at her grandfather. “The events of last night have had consequences far reaching and dire in nature. Pollux managed to track down Bellatrix and the LeStranges to a LeStrange Chateaux in Bardouville. The Chateaux du Corset-Rouge is a 19th century building and easily stormed. This is what I intend to do tonight. Any wand here who wishes to join me is welcome, however our only casualties are to be the brothers and the yet, unidentified fourth member of their group. I want Bellatrix alive and unharmed.” He glanced towards Narcissa as he said this and Sirius couldn’t help but compare the blonde’s expression to a marble statue’s. She nodded her acceptance though and Arcturus seemed satisfied. “The rest of our business today will be meetings with Gringotts, the ministry and with the healers charged with Cassie’s care. Pollux, I want you to and Irma to head the meeting with the latter, as Sirius and I will deal with Gringotts and the ministry. Cygnus, Druella; it is your duty to be with your daughters today. _Both_ of them.” Pollux growled at this but otherwise refrained from commenting when his house lord’s eyes turned icy.

“We know not of Andromeda’s whereabouts.” Cygnus admitted, albeit reluctantly. “She is lost to us.”

“Then I suggest you look to your youngest.” Arcturus’s reply was biting and the couple blanched under the weight of his dark stare. “She is the only one in this room who seems to currently understand what it means to be a family. Our centuries old motto has stood for family above all else, how many of you here can say, without doubts; that you have kept to your house’s teachings? How many of you are going to admit that you have failed the one daughter of our house who truly followed her heart?”

“She turned her back on _us!”_ Pollux exploded, jumping out of his chair. “The harlot is lucky to still be alive.” Narcissa had shot to her feet in response to her grandfather’s outburst, and her wand was in her hand, its tip glowing with something red and angry.

“Take that back you cantankerous old bastard.” She snarled. “It was _you_ who drove her away from our family. It is _you_ who subjected Bellatrix to the insane teachings of Aunt Walburga. The only two people sat at this table without blame for what happened to my sisters are Sirius and Uncle Arc.”

“You will keep a civil tongue in your head you ungrateful brat.” Narcissa growled and fired whatever curse came to mind first; and Sirius watched in horror as the morning’s meeting descended into chaos. Arcturus calmly erected a duelling shield around their end of the table and watched as the other five Blacks threw curses and hexes around like confetti.

“They’ll get bored in ten minutes.” he said casually. “Once the lot of them realise they’re outmatched by Narcissa. The manor prevents them from doing any serious harm to each other so its oftentimes better to let them work off some steam.” Sirius nodded faintly, watching the spectacle of his youngest cousin downing Pollux with a stunner before rounding on her parents who were a minute ago assisting her with her grandparents.

It turned out that Arcturus was wrong. The battle of the Blacks lasted a mere seven minutes before Narcissa was the only one left standing, her wand still gripped in her hand and sweat pouring from her forehead. She was panting heavily as she rounded on the pair of them and Sirius watched as his grandfather dropped the shield before moving to wrap his arms around the woman.

“I’m sorry Uncle Arc.” She whispered, clutching him tightly.

“Its alright my flower. No harm done okay?” She nodded against his chest and he drew back to give her a comforting smile. “Now what are you doing here, instead of at home with your husband and son?” Narcissa frowned before getting down onto one knee and bowing her head.

“I bring grievous news my Lord.” She all but whispered. “Abraxas Malfoy visited the manor last night and something very valuable was taken from my husband’s desk. This item could be used to bring about the resurrection of the Dark Lord, and the fall of the Black family. I request your permission to confront him and take back what was gifted to Lucius by the Lord Slytherin.”

“Well shit.” Arcturus muttered, much to Sirius’s shock. He dropped back into his chair and rubbed his temple. “As if this weekend couldn’t get any worse.”

“I beg your forgiveness my Lord.” Narcissa replied from her position on the floor. “I have failed to keep this family safe from outside forces and will accept my punishment.” Sirius grimaced at that, if his grandfather was going to punish Narcissa for Malfoy’s interference then he dreaded to think what was in store for his own indiscretions.

“Get up child.” Narcissa lifted her head and gave him a long look before getting to her feet. “Go home. Sleep, and come and see me in the morning. Abraxas has neither the power or the knowledge to be following through on his rash actions. It is nothing that cannot wait until everything else has been sorted. Go be with your son and give my best to Lucius and your sister.” Shock flooded Sirius as he realised the implications of the morning’s fight. His grandfather was still in contact with Andromeda. Narcissa clearly knew where her sister lived, and the now apparently the estranged Black sister was days away from being brought back into their fold.

“Thank you, my Lord.” Narcissa said, bowing her head. “I apologise for the mess on your carpet.” Arcturus laughed at that.

“Go home flower. And get some sleep.” She nodded and left, the Toujours Pur falling from her lips as she slipped out of the door. Arcturus sighed and leant back into his chair. “Now you have witnessed what happens when we all get together.” He muttered, rubbing his eyes.

“Mad, the lot of us.” Sirius said, a wry smirk gracing his lips. “But at the minute we are all we have, so I think it might be beneficial to recast that shield before waking the ‘mess on the carpet’ as my dear cousin so elegantly put it.”

“You’re starting to get it are you?” Arcturus asked, casting him a sideways glance. “You’ve hit the nail on the head on both accounts.”

“How are we going to do this?” Sirius asked, nodding to the four bodies on the floor. Arcturus let out another groan.

O_o_O_o_O

Remus nodded politely at the blonde woman as she practically fell through the Floo. She muttered a ‘morning’ before heading in the direction they had come from. He shook his head at the strangeness of the Black family before throwing in a hand of powder and calling out their address clearly. He stepped through and nodded; pleased when the Longbottoms and Melania followed, Harry in his grandmother’s arms, and Neville in Augusta’s.

“It isn’t much.” Remus said, looking around the flat before shooting a sideways glance at Melania. “But it has made a nice little bolthole for us since Samhain, and it has been thought of as home.”

“It’s lovely.” Melania said with a smile. “It’s so very Sirius.” Remus laughed at that as he glanced around the living room; painted a warm red and adorned with posters of muggle rock bands. “I suggest we start to pack it all up though, before we get company.”

“You think Dumbledore is on the move?” Frank asked as Melania placed Harry down on the floor; the stuffed black dog Sirius had saved from the Hollow joining him, after a quick summoning charm.

“After last night?” She asked raising an elegant eyebrow. “He is bound to be.” As the last sentence left her lips Remus was suddenly aware of a Portkey crashing through the wards and Minerva landed neatly on their carpet, out of breath and clearly exhausted.

“Albus is on his way.” She gasped, clutching at her side. “He left for Gringotts ten minutes ago and will be here within the next hour.”

“Merlin’s beard Minerva!” Augusta cried, racing to steady her friend and sit her down on one of the settees. “Did you run all the way to Hogsmeade?” At her friend’s blush Augusta shook her head and ordered Frank to go and brew a pot of tea.

“We have to hurry.” The Hogwarts professor said. “We don’t have time to waste on tea.”

“Do not concern yourself dear.” Melania said softly, sitting on the other side of Minerva, seeing as Augusta had parked herself on her friend’s right side and was evidently _not_ going to move. “We have elves ready to transport us as soon as we are ready. I suggest you come with us so that you are familiar with this lot’s new lodgings.”

“You’re moving today?” She asked Remus, who had divided his attention between her and the now two boys playing on the carpet; Neville having been placed down by Augusta the moment Minerva had appeared.

“If Dumbledore is on the move then it is the best thing for us to do.” He replied softly. “Come with us and I can adjust your portkey for the manor.” Minerva glanced around the room, taking in all of the furniture and squaring her shoulders.

“Only if you let me help you pack.” The werewolf seemed to debate with himself before giving her a nod.

“Once boxes have been made up, the elves can easily get them away to The Orrery.” The Black matriarch called for an elf and Remus’s eyes widened as a small, female elf wearing a neat little dress robe appeared in the room. “This is Flip. She’s the head elf for the manor and will be Sirius’s personal elf when you have all settled in.”

“Hi Flip.” Remus greeted, squatting down to the little being’s height. “I’m Remus, Sirius’s mate. We need help getting some boxes to the manor, do you think some of your staff could assist?”

“Flip is being seeing to it right away Mr Wolf sir. We’s been making the manor ready for you’s arrival since Lord Black told us of you’s comings.”

“Then I guess we better make a start.” Frank replied, bringing in a tea tray with several cups balanced precariously on top of one another.

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius winced under Barchoke’s beady stare as the goblin worked his way through the Potter accounts. Upon arriving at Gringotts, Arcturus had insisted that they check to ensure Dumbledore could not find out about Harrison’s change of status, and Barchoke’s fierce look at the mere suggestion of such a thing happening had sent a shiver down Sirius’s spine.

“Everything is in order.” The goblin said, glancing over a thick piece of parchment. “The death of Harry Potter has been recorded and Sirius Black is the new head of the Potter estate, until he names a respective heir.”

“I would like to stress that I am only taking the headship up as a stewarding role. My son will be set to inherit the Potter headship in its full capacity should he wish it. Otherwise, it will pass to another of my children, should Lady magic bless me as such.”

“What of the other Potter child?” Barchoke asked, stunning both men into silence. “We have on record an older female child born to the Potter line. She was named heir apparent after Master Potter’s birth. We have her birthday registered for September 19th 1979 to Lord Potter and an unknown surrogate female.”

“A surrogate?” Sirius whispered, his pallor; grey.

“Do you have any further records for this child?” Arcturus asked. “Anything at all?”

“I have an heir’s vault for both Potter children. One in Master Potter’s name and one registered to Miss Athena Violet Potter-Black.”

“Black?”

“Yes, Lord Black; the child bears the names of both Potter and Black.”

“Nova.” He whispered more to himself than the other two residents of the office.

Sirius frowned at the muttered name, wracking his brains in an attempt to remember where he’d heard it. When the answer eventually came to him it brought with it a whole host of memories, he hadn’t known he still had.

“Andromeda had a child with James?”

“It would certainly seem that way.” His grandfather replied. “I request that we visit both the Potter and Black vaults to consult the tapestries.” He aimed this at Barchoke who nodded once, noting down something in the margin of his ledger. “Has the adoption of Harrison gone through?”

“It has. The ministry sent over the documents this morning, pertaining to Sirius Black’s formal adoption of one Harrison Cadmus Black. The child is now registered as a son of the house of Black, and we can confirm that magic has recorded his adoption in regards to our records of his previous moniker.”

“So, Harry’s trust vault?” Sirius prompted.

“A mistake on my behalf.” Barchoke replied, bowing his head slightly. “The trust vault set up by the late Lord and Lady Potter is now in Harrison Black’s name.” Sirius nodded, satisfied and asked for the entirety of the Potter estate to be locked down. At his grandfather’s advice he allowed for successful investments to continue but stressed that any venture working at a loss was to be closed.

“I should not have to tell you how important your discretion on this matter is.” Sirius said gravely, meeting Barchoke’s eyes in a way that had the goblin either grinning or sneering (He couldn’t tell which).

“All transactions made through _Gringotts_ are confidential, and I am under oath not to reveal anything about what I discuss with my clients in this room.” Sirius got the hidden message in that statement almost immediately. The ministry was not to be trusted. “Is there anything else I can assist you with, before your trip to the vaults?”

“That concludes our business for today I think.” Arcturus said, getting to his feet. “Thank you for your assistance, may your gold flow, and your enemies fall at your feet Account Manager Barchoke.”

“You are welcome Lord Black. May your magic prosper and your ventures succeed.” The pair left the office to find a young goblin waiting just outside the door.

“You wished to visit the vaults?” The goblin asked, without introducing himself. Arcturus nodded once and they were led down to the carts; Sirius’s mind reeling from the new information they had gathered. Harry had a sister. Stuff that, James had sired a child with someone other than Lily! He needed to speak to Andromeda as soon as possible, but he knew that meeting wouldn’t go ahead without the permission of the man at the side of him.

“I will see to it that Andromeda joins us for dinner tomorrow night.” Arcturus said quietly; as if reading his mind. “I am sure you have as many questions as I right now, but we have other business to conduct today before we worry about this child.”

“I understand my Lord.” Sirius replied as they climbed into the cart as gracefully as they could manage. “Immediate house business comes before anything else.” Arcturus turned to give him a look as the cart set off at a sedate pace.

“I know you cared for Potter, as much as I care for Andromeda. This _will_ be addressed Sirius, but I have to be sure that Bellatrix cannot do anymore damage before I can deal with this.” Sirius bowed his head and felt guilt wash over him.

“And I _do_ understand. Whatever the circumstances surrounding this child, you are right to take care of the more immediate problems. This child is safe wherever she is, the rest of us probably not.” His grandfather nodded in acceptance and the rest of the ride was spent in silence.

The Potter vault was first on their list and Sirius pricked his thumb, smearing some of his blood on the Lion statue by the door. The vault creaked open and he and his grandfather were admitted to the cavernous space inside. Mountains of gold, silver and bronze were piled into a separate area, whilst the main body of the vault gave space to heirlooms of the Potter family. Sirius stared wide eyed at the sheer volume of items, from decorative rugs to jewellery cases, wardrobes, trunks, portraits and a whole set of shelves for wands. He resolved to bring the wands of Lily and James to lay to rest amongst the others.

“It is an impressive wealth.” Arcturus mentioned politely from the doorway, hesitant to step past the ward boundary; marked with a suit of armour. Sirius hummed in agreement and turned his focus away from the wands to his search for the tapestry. It didn’t take him long, as it was pretty hard to miss the huge cloth; taking up a complete wall. A pedestal sat before it, the family ledger and ceremonial dagger in place and Sirius approached the area that had been cleared around the impressive sight. He picked up the golden quill and carefully make his first mark upon the ledger.

_I, Sirius Orion Black, Head of the House of Potter wish to view the birth record of Athena Violet Potter-Black; heir to the house of Potter._

The words sunk into the page before black, delicate writing started to spread out over the thick parchment. He recognised it as James’s hand and started to read, almost frantically.

_Sirius, (Who else should I need to address this to, but you Padfoot?)_

_If you are reading this it is because both Lily and I are dead. I know that might sound blunt but it is the truth and you need to mourn us and move on for Harry’s sake, as much as Moony’s. Dumbledore cannot be trusted, and as I write this I fear Lily and I will be forced into hiding by a prophecy we are sure is fake. If we end up in hiding, know that it will NOT be of our own free will, and that Dumbledore’s wand has been loose around us for that is the only way we would ever agree to hide behind some of the obscure wards the headmaster has been suggesting as of late._

_I digress and repeat._

_Sirius, if you are reading this then Lily and I are dead, and there are things you need to know in preparation for the coming months. I have a daughter Sirius. A beautiful, brown haired, brown eyed daughter; who my love for is matched only by my love for Harry. In November 1978, after a Death Eater raid, turned Order battle; Lily started to become unwell around her moon._ (Sirius smiled at James’s code name for Lily’s lady troubles) _After a trip to Mungo’s we discovered that she had taken an unknown curse that affected her lunar constitution, and that it could be up to a year before we could try for a child._

_She was desperate Sirius. We both were. I asked your grandfather for permission to visit Andromeda (at my mother’s suggestion), and Andi bore us a baby girl only a couple of weeks before we found out that Lily was pregnant with Harry._

_Now, Sirius. I know what is probably going through your head right now so please put your wand away, take a deep breath and try not to curse anyone._

Sirius paused and realised that his wand _was_ in fact in his hand and he left the plinth to place it down on an ornate end table, a little distance away. He glanced at where his grandfather was hovering by the vault entrance, before taking James’s advice… and a deep breath. Turning his attention back to the ledger; he steeled himself for what he was sure was going to continue to be a difficult read.

 _Doesn’t that feel better?_ (Sirius snorted at his friend’s cheek.)

 _So now you know the reason for Hermione’s birth._ (Hermione?) _At the time of writing, she is staying with the sister of Ted Tonks, and her husband. Dan and Emma Granger are dentists (Lily says they’re some kind of healer) and are living in Crawley, London. If you are imagining that Lily and I abandoned our daughter to muggles then you might want to take another deep breath._

_As you well know, Lily took a large period of Confinement when she was pregnant with Harry, and she spent most of that time with Hermione, raising our baby girl until Dumbledore deemed it too dangerous for us to be still living at the manor._

_Before you panic; Dumbledore doesn’t know about our little girl. Her home birth was witnessed only by Lily, my mother and Emma Granger, and her name has since been changed on all of our records to Athena Violet. I know that grandmother and Andromeda blood adopted her at Lily’s desperate request, once we were in hiding, so it is assuredly safe for her to stay where she is for now._

_However, … I need your help. If, what my mother has Seen has really happened, and you are back within your family’s fold, then that means you have Harry. He is going to need his big sister Sirius, and she is going to need him. Mother wouldn’t explain exactly why, but their connection is important, as well as the connection they are going to have with the three others born into your family within the years straddling the turn of the decade. She is adamant that Harry and Hermione know each other prior to Hogwarts, and I need you to make that happen Sirius. Athena will, by this point have become a Potter-Black, and her bearing the Black name is more important than any of us can comprehend._

_I know that you miss us Padfoot, and rest assured that we will have done everything in our power to help you avenge our deaths. In the main part of the vault, there is a trunk containing our family’s pensieve, vials of our memories and stacks of journals, information for you to use to bring about the fall of Dumbledore and the rise of the Fate’s Five (mother’s words, so take them with a pocket of salt)._

_I will always love you my brother, whichever side of the veil I am._

_James._

_P.S. If you haven’t asked Moony out yet, then shift your lazy arse into gear. I’ll set Wormtail on you if you don’t._

Sirius closed the book and stepped away from the dais. He could feel his hands shaking and tears were running unashamedly down his cheeks. He looked up to see it, bold as anything and sitting at the bottom of the tapestry, underneath the names of his best friend and his cousin.

Athena Violet Black

O_o_O_o_O

The house elf deposited them all neatly onto the rug, in which Remus guessed was the entrance hall, and the group let out a collective sigh of relief. It had been an extremely close call. Alice had felt a ripple in the wards and had called for Flip immediately, instructing the little creature to get them all out of the house as fast as she could. Once they had ensured that they had all made it safely; they turned their attention to the huge hall they had been dropped into.

A large, ornate and double door was to their backs; framed in stained glass, depicting planets and stars, and a carved, sweeping staircase lay before them, hewn from what looked like mahogany and carpeted in a deep blue carpet.

“Not the grand reveal I wished for, but welcome to your new home.” Melania said with a smile, trotting off through a door to their left; the group having no option but to follow. They entered what was obviously the formal sitting room, the large space lit brightly with more stained glass, four huge windows of it in fact; all along the back wall, and draped in the same blue as the carpet on the stairs. Two Black leather settees and several armchairs all occupied the space in front of the grand fireplace, and Remus marvelled at the two bookcases framing the hearth.

Melania took them all on a guided tour of the building. A second sitting room, a formal dining room, and informal dining room, a ballroom and a family kitchen all took space on the ground floor and before they had even made it upstairs Remus had been thoroughly impressed.

The second and third floor would have been almost exclusively bedrooms if it hadn’t been for the enormous, two story library, stretching out the full depth of the building. Three bedrooms lined either side of it on both levels and were pointed out to be the guest rooms. Augusta claimed her room on the second floor, furthest away from the Library, on the right-hand side and with two large windows; overlooking the grounds. Alice mentioned they would wait until he and Sirius had chosen theirs, only to be informed by Melania that there were separate suites for the heads of the household, and their heirs, so she and Frank settled on a room next to the library on the third floor.

“The fourth floor holds six large suites.” Melania told him, leaving the Longbottoms to settle in and leading him up the stairs, Harrison in her arms; Minerva having decided to assist Augusta in her unpacking. “The largest, for Sirius and yourself, and five others for your heirs. Sirius Black II was one of five siblings, and his father; Phineas Nigellus was one of four, so you can understand the grand number of suites.”

“The Blacks never do anything by halves.” Remus responded faintly. This place is extraordinary, and much too big for all of us.”

“Nonsense. Black manor is almost three times the size of this, and is home only to myself and Arc. You will all be very comfortable here once you are settled in. Besides, you haven’t seen the best parts of the building yet, and there are somethings better for you to discover yourself about this place.”

“The famous Planetarium.” Remus acknowledged with a nod. “Its reputation precedes it.” Melania let out a musical laugh at that and pushed open the first set of doors on the corridor they’d just entered. Remus’s mouth dropped at the sheer size of the room in front of him. A large seating area took up centre space, divided from the bed by huge mahogany bookcases and; like the rest of the manor was bathed in the early winter sunlight from the now familiar stained-glass windows.

“These are your suites, the sleeping area is to the right with a small en-suite.” Remus wondered just _how_ small this en-suite was, given the size of the rest of the room. “And there is a larger bathroom to the left, which holds the baths.” _Baths as in plural?_ Remus’s brain shouted and he resisted the urge to go exploring. “I trust this is acceptable?” Remus could only manage a nod, still feeling a little overwhelmed at the what he had seen that day. The manor was truly beautiful, and he knew that he would never get used to the amount of space gifted to Sirius and he.

“We are in your debt Lady Black. Truly, for everything you have done for us in the last week. You have given us our safety, our security, our freedom, and now _this._ The last month has been almost unbearable, and you and Lord Black have given us our lives back. I cannot thank you enough.” Melania’s soft features melted into an undiscernible expression and she led him over to one of the settees; sitting him down and placing a restless Harrison on the rug in front of them.

“You have had to carry the heavy weight of grief my dear.” She said softly, reaching out to grasp one of his hands. “I imagine the wolf inside of you has been battering your emotions as of late, and I can guess how your conversation with Sirius went, in the wake of your meeting with Arcturus. But you _are_ safe now. All of you. The little ones can grow and flourish here, under your care and our tutelage. Dumbledore can only guess at the properties our family hold, and even then, he has no idea of where they are located. In regards to the Dark Lord, Harry Potter is dead to the outside world, and Neville has left the country. You are safe here Remus, and only an elf call away if you ever need anything. Family means everything to the Blacks, and we see that we protect it, in any way we can.” Remus nodded at that, his mind flitting back to what Arcturus had done in Mungo’s; the previous night. “I suggest you get some rest before dinner. You have had a trying day, and byhan Bran will be ready for a nap of his own by now.”

“The house magic is affecting him.” Remus stated rather than asked, his tactless approach to the matter demonstrating just how worn out he was.

“Its effects should be lessened here.” Melania responded, not denying what the pair of them already knew to be true. “The manor was busy last night, and the adoption wouldn’t have helped. When that many of us get together the magic in the manor can get overwhelming for anyone, especially a little one.” She stood and smoothed out her pale blue robes. “I should depart and leave you to rest. I shall give your excuses to the Longbottoms and the esteemed Professor and inform them that you will see them at dinner.” Remus had risen from his seat by the time she had finished and he took her hand, placing a kiss upon it with a bow.

“Toujours Pur Lady Black, and thank you once again.” She smiled prettily, gave him a small curtsey and departed, leaving him to lift Harrison into his arms and curl up on the huge King-sized bed.

O_o_O_o_O

They remained well hidden in the shadows as the disillusioned figures moved to surround the house. Narcissa had insisted she come, and Lucius wasn’t about to let her confront her sister alone, so with the addition of Sirius, Arcturus, Cygnus, Druella and surprisingly Andromeda, their numbers were brought up to seven. Andromeda had arrived at the manor with her sister and parents and had shot him a surprised look when he made his presence known. He didn’t know how strong the hold Dumbledore had on her was, but he suspected that with the continued safety of the secret Potter child; Andromeda wasn’t as deep in the headmaster’s camp as she had led everyone to believe.

He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts and focus his mind on the situation at hand. Arcturus had advised a silent approach; through the front doors and with heavy anti-transportation wards surrounding the manor; a tactic which was applauded by Sirius. He had vowed to himself to keep an eye on his youngest cousin; as Narcissa had looked to be out for blood before they had left Black Manor, earlier that evening. This time she truly _was_ dressed for battle, in a form-fitting black body suit, a corset made from what Sirius was almost certain; the hide of a Hebridean Black Dragon and flat soled black boots, laced up to her knees. A black cape and hood finished her ensemble and hid her platinum blonde hair from the light of the moon.

He noted his focus had once again wavered and shook the feeling off, watching as Andromeda silently opened the door and entered the house. She was dressed similarly to her sister, who had followed immediately behind her, and the pair made quite the sight; their faces blank of all expression and their eyes full of murder as they ghosted up the staircase.

They were out for blood, Sirius decided, and he wasn’t sure whether his grandfather’s interference was going to stop them.

This was an assassination mission.


	9. The Battle of the Blacks Part Two

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Nine – The Battle of the Blacks Part Two

Sirius moved silently after the two sisters as they ghosted through the manor. They seemed to know where they were going, so he hung back to follow, instead of getting in their way. He could feel his grandfather’s presence behind him and was momentarily stunned at the realisation that his connection to the family magic had never been stronger. He shook the feeling off, he’d been distracted enough this evening and he needed to focus.

“Its strange isn’t it?” Arcturus whispered from his side. Sirius shook his head, failing to comprehend what his Lord was talking about and Arcturus chuckled at his obliviousness. “The charm to skew your focus. It’s one of Rabastan’s I believe.” And, he tapped Sirius on the head with his wand. The world came back into sharp relief and he sucked in a breath, nodding his thanks once he’d regained his bearings. They’d discuss it later.

There was a short countdown from the sisters in front before a huge explosion blew the double doors off their hinges, revealing a grandiose bedroom furnished with a king-sized bed. He and his grandfather moved to cover the sisters as Bellatrix wasted no time in providing a lethal string of curses to keep them occupied. He could hear the sounds of battle coming from the room next door and knew that Lucius, Cygnus and Druella had also found their targets with ease.

“What the hell do you think you’re playing at?” Bellatrix shrieked as she let out another string of curses towards her sisters.

“You almost killed Aunt Cassie!” The momentary shock after her heated reply was all Narcissa needed to gain the upper hand on her eldest sister. With a twist of her wand; Bella was wrapped up like a Yule gift, stunned and wandless within a matter of seconds. Seeing that the two women had their sister under control; Sirius turned his attention to the sounds of fighting, still emanating from the next room and made the snap decision to enter the fray himself. He nodded to his grandfather as he turned to leave and braced himself to take on the two LeStrange brothers.

He had not expected to find what he did, but then life seemed to be throwing all sorts curveballs today. Not only were the two LeStrange brothers already bound and being covered by Druella’s wand; a naked Barty Crouch Junior was also in bonds and shouting his head off at Lucius, who seemed to be fighting to keep himself from laughing.

“Cygnus is canvassing the rest of the building.” Druella said coolly as he approached. “These three were going at it like muggles in heat, and I am quite glad I skipped supper.” Sirius couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter at that, also setting Lucius off and the two of them shared an uncomfortable chuckle before turning to the task at hand.

“The rest of the house is clear.” Arcturus said as he stepped into the room. He raised an eyebrow at the three men who were all bound and now silenced (thanks to Druella) before turning to Lucius for an explanation.

“We found them in bed together. We’ll spare you the details as it was not an image I ever wanted, and now one I will never forget.”

“Get some robes on them; best you can, and we’ll take them with us. We need to move before Bella’s dear sisters take her apart. We’ll hold them at the manor for now, until I decide what to do with them.”

“I can take the brothers.” Sirius said with a nod, even though Arcturus’s statement was only partially directed at him. “The quicker we get them secured the easier I’ll feel.”

“The sooner you can get back to your half-breed you mean.” Lucius sneered under his breath, and Sirius’s wand twitched in his hand.

“That is my mate you are referring to Malfoy, and if I remember correctly your grandmother had Veela blood, making you as much of a half-breed as Remus. At least he is fully in tune with his wolf, all you have to show for your creature heritage is your pretty hair.” Druella snorted at that and Arcturus looked a mixture of irritation at Lucius and amusement at him, at least his big mouth hadn’t got him into too much trouble. “Also, for your information; I have no intention of returning to Remus or Harrison this night, there is too much happening within the house that requires the _heir’s_ attention.”

“Please take the brothers and go Sirius.” His grandfather said mildly. “Before Narcissa ends up having to scrape what’s left of her husband’s dignity from the floor.” Sirius nodded and strode over to the two LeStrange brothers, whom Druella had managed to somehow robe, under their bonds. He grabbed the scruffs of their collars and apparated out of the manor, leaving a beet red Lucius and a bemused lord behind.

O_o_O_o_O

Remus settled down in front of the large fire, a book in his hands and a hot chocolate steaming on the mahogany coffee table. He’d been in the manor less than an afternoon, and already he knew he’d found his favourite reading spot. The library stretched two floors, with a mezzanine running around three walls. The only wall not covered in books was the one on which the main doors were situated, and instead was covered by canvases of stunning landscapes.

The seating area in which he’d stationed himself was to the right of the door; the bookshelves stopping to make room for the enormous fireplace and chimney breast, and the floor was covered in a huge royal-blue rug. The definite theme throughout the manor was blue and purple, their jewel tones complementing the rich mahogany and dark ebony from which most of the rooms seemed to have been constructed. Most of the ceilings were panelled; with the exception of the ballroom, and the Black’s family raven featured heavily in the intricate carvings found around the manor. The whole place was warm, cosy, richly decorated and there was at least one bookshelf in almost every room. Remus loved it.

After his short nap, he’d left Harrison sleeping, under monitoring charms and in the hands of a young female elf named Pelly, who promised to take good care of the boy; and had taken a wander through the manor, waiting on the Longbottoms and Minerva to make an appearance for dinner. The only place he’d yet to visit was the Planetarium, saving that for when the rest of the family, including Sirius joined him. He knew that he was going to see a lot less of his mate over the coming months as Sirius worked on integrating himself back into the family, and proving himself to be a worthy heir to Arcturus.

He couldn’t really complain. It _had_ been him who had made the suggestion that Sirius approached his grandfather in the first place, and now they were all reaping the benefits and sacrifices of that decision. He placed his tome down on the coffee table and instead took out his shrunken black book. He’d started carrying a ledger around ever since their meeting with Arcturus the previous week, and had been making notes on everyone within the Black family; including the Longbottoms.

He flipped to an empty page near the back and drew a line down the centre with a pencil. Then, he started making a list of the pros and cons; recent events had thrown up. They were all safe, for a start; they had the manor, he and Sirius had _finally_ sorted out their relationship issues, they had Harrison, they had the Longbottoms; the list grew until finally he thought he could start working on the other side. So, he had less time with Sirius, he’d had to come face to face with the Malfoys, more people knew about the wolf than he liked (although that had also gone on the other list as all of them had been nothing but respectful), he had less time with Sirius. Okay so that was on there twice, however it had seemed like a short list compared to the pros, and he’d wanted to fill it up a bit more (always the pessimist).

“I see you have found your favourite spot.” He whipped around to see Alice at the doorway, leaning on the frame with a smirk. “What are you doing?”

“Writing a list of the positives and negatives that this move has provided us with.” She frowned and pushed herself off the doorway to take a seat on the second sofa near the fireplace.

“How bad is it?”

“I’m struggling to balance the book.” He replied, passing the journal over for her to read.

“Is this a ledger?” She asked, turning it over in her hands.

“I thought it best that one of us start to keep one of everyone we come across. You, Frank and Augusta are in there, along with Minerva, Sirius, and everyone we had dinner with last night. The boys are also in there as I can keep track of their lessons and natural talents, if they show any.”

“You don’t have my sense down.” She said with a frown, flipping to her page. “I could feel the magic in the Black manor last night, the same way I can feel Hogwarts and the wards around this place and Oxford.”

“You can feel the wards?”

“It only usually happens in places where I’ve spent a lot of time, but I seem to be more in tune with this place than I am with the Arboretum.” She handed him the book back and he scribbled a note in her page for further research into her ability.

“I’ll have a look and see what I can find on the matter, and if it’s something worth working on. You certainly saved our behinds this morning in Oxford.”

“I don’t know if it’s an ability, or whether I just have a high sensitivity for wards. What I was feeling at Black manor last night was certainly different to anything I’ve experienced before.”

“Harrison was affected by the family magic last night as well. Melania said it would settle down now that he’s here with us.” Alice nodded and they lapsed into a comfortable silence, each deep in their thoughts as they watched the fire dance in the hearth. The pop of a house elf startled them for a second but Remus soon calmed seeing that it was Pelly.

“Little master is being woken up Mr Wolf sir, he be quiet but I think hungry.” Remus thanked the little creature and told her that he would be right up.

“We’ll meet you in the kitchen downstairs.” Alice said standing up with him. “I think we could all do with some food.” He nodded and they parted ways at the door; Alice going to knock for Augusta and Minerva whilst he went to collect Harry from the fourth floor. He would have to get used to all the stairs again.

O_o_O_o_O

He was at a loss for what to do. His investigation of the flat in Oxford had yielded no sign of the Black boy or his pet wolf, worse; it appeared that they’d moved altogether and a feeling of dread started to settle in his stomach. He took a breath to try and calm his nerves, just because they had moved didn’t mean that they’d gone running to Old Man Black. They could have left the country like the Longbottoms, or just gone into hiding elsewhere, this didn’t mean anything.

In the end; it took him an hour, almost a full bottle of Firewhiskey and a rather large rant to the portraits in his office before he finally settled back behind his desk. With the death of the Potter boy, he needed to plan a way for the Longbottoms to move back to Britain, that was; when he could get an owl to deliver a message to them; the bloody birds just kept looking at him as if he was stupid when he attached letters addressed to Augusta to their legs. He’d almost been tempted to roast the one that had squawked at him angrily.

With that thought, a brainwave hit him like the Hogwarts express (though with less broken bones involved, obviously).

“Could you deliver a letter to them?” He asked Fawkes; who was sat grooming his plumage on his perch. “Could you get a letter to Frank, Alice and Augusta?” Fawkes trilled in the positive and he swiftly let out a sigh of relief, handing three letters over to his Phoenix; who promptly burst into flames to deliver the letters.

It was much later that night, when the buzz of the Firewhiskey wore off, and his head cleared; that he realised his beloved familiar hadn’t returned, and once again, the hundred and twenty years of curse words he had learned were used to their full effect.

O_o_O_o_O

“Please tell me why I shouldn’t cast you out and hand you over to the Aurors to be fed on by a Dementor.” Arcturus hissed as he strode into the cell, flicking a reviving charm at a chained Bellatrix. His anger was nearing peak levels and only the affection he held for her two younger sisters were currently keeping his niece alive. “I cannot begin to tell you how much trouble you have caused me in the past twenty-four hours.”

“Narcissa said Aunt Cass was hurt.” Bellatrix replied with a stoic expression. “What happened?”

“ _You_ happened.” Arcturus replied angrily. “One of your blasting curses breached the Chateaux’s annex. Cassiopeia turned up here last night covered in blood and has been in a magically induced coma ever since she passed out in one of our armchairs. You have so much more to answer for than that though, you impertinent child; attacking the Longbottoms, the business with Barty Crouch Jr, the Dark Lord, and anything that has happened since you disappeared off to France three weeks ago. I will be contacting the French ministry tomorrow to explain that it was you that caused so much damage last night. Their body count is nearing three figures whilst I try and work out why I shouldn’t just hand what I leave of you over.”

“The Longbottoms deserved everything that was coming to them.” Bellatrix snarled. “The blood traitors should never have been allowed to live. As for my husband’s fucktoy; you made it pretty clear in our contract that I was under no obligation to sire an heir, so he and his brother have been finding pleasure in each other and the piece of shit they have been keeping as their pet ever since our wedding night. You denounce my following of my Lord, yet you did nothing to stop me from taking his mark, and what should you care about a bunch of muggles living on the other side of the channel?” Arcturus took a deep breath as he started to unpack all of that and he conjured a stool to sit down on, more so that he could look the woman in the eye than for his own comfort.

“The Longbottoms have Black blood, regardless of their leanings they are family; and off limits to all of us. I made that perfectly clear to you the instant Pollux told me what your Lord was planning. I never stopped you taking that mark, but I am ashamed of some of the things you have done whilst under his instruction. Our family motto has always been about keeping things like this in the family, and Cassie turning up last night, needing desperate treatment forced me to take her to Mungo’s, risking the integrity of our house. Your contract also stated that you had primacy in your marriage, and instead of using that to taunt your husband I had hoped that you would use the brains magic gave you and take it upon yourself to assert your dominance of that household; past getting him to let you do what you want. I am more disappointed in you than you can possibly imagine right now.”

“Please Uncle, I want to see my sisters.”

“You will see no one until I say so!” Arcturus thundered; flying up from his stool. “You will stay down here until I have deemed you worthy of re-joining our family. After that, your punishment will be decided. Your cell will be silenced and an elf will attend to your nutritional needs three times a day until I regard you as fit to be released. Maybe you can use this time to start showing repentance rather than defiance, until then; the only visitor you will have is me.” He banished the stool and strode out of the cell, flicking his wand to close the door and lock it; before casting silencing charms and a barrier ward. It wouldn’t do for Narcissa or her sister to have murdered the woman before he had the chance to deal with her.

“What are you planning for her?” Sirius asked from where he was sitting, at the bottom of the stone staircase. The manor’s dungeons could only be accessed by the steps that led into the elven kitchen, and seeing as though the elves were constantly around to monitor them, they had never _accidentally_ lost a prisoner in the history of their house.

“Some time to consider her options before she is moved into the country estate to care for the woman she almost murdered.” He grouched, peering down the corridor to the other three occupied cells.

“I can deal with them if you like. It’s been a long day, and you should get some rest.” He eyed his heir with caution, trying to deduce whether Sirius had any other intentions; the man’s eyes were open and honest though and there was no deceit that he could detect. “Look, I promise nothing permanent and at least with a bit of roughing up, I might have information for you by the morning.” His grandson said with an easy shrug.

“You are speaking of torture Sirius.”

“I am a Black by birth, my magic is grey at best, and it’s nothing I haven’t wanted to do to that slimeball Crouch for some time now.”

“Nothing permanent then, and you are to inform them that I am considering their options. Any information they can give on the whereabouts of Abraxas Malfoy, the Dark Lord and the possibility of Horcruxes, may just help their case.”

“Horcruxes?”

“I’ll explain when I know more. This is merely fact-finding Sirius are you sure you are up to it?” Sirius squared his shoulders and lifted his jaw. “Good.” Arcturus said with a nod. “You may debrief me in the morning. Ask Nip to show you to your suite once you have finished; lest you get lost.” Sirius nodded and stood up to allow his grandfather upstairs.

O_o_O_o_O

Amelia could have screamed herself hoarse in frustration as she signed the documents that confirmed the death of Harry Potter. The high concentration of magic in what was supposed to be a muggle area had the ministry alarms blearing out across the office. It had been fortunate (or not, depending on how you looked at the situation), that she was still working, finishing up some paperwork to start unravelling the case of James and Lily Potter. Susan was with the Abbots, and she had forgone her planned afternoon off in order to finish up. The moment the alarms had sounded she’d had a hit-team ready within the minute and taking the lead herself; they had departed for Surrey.

The fact that she’d felt the lingering magic in the air that told the tale of strong wards, and that the house ablaze; was registering with strong magic she thought she recognised; meant that they were in the right place. Muggle firefighters were already at the scene, so she’d ordered two of her team to follow her into the house; obscuring spells, bubble-heads and flame-freezers in place. The high concentration of magic registering from the cupboard under the stairs meant that it was the first place they concentrated on, and the results of her scanning charms almost had her bringing the rest of the house down around them. That this little boy was here and not with Sirius Black was a crime unto itself, that the charred remains were in a cupboard rather than a bedroom meant that if any of the muggles living at this address were still alive, their chances of _not_ meeting her wand were slim to none.

“Boss we have what we came for, we need to get a forensic team in here.” She liked Kingsley; he was often a steadying presence when a case like this infuriated her.

“Let’s go.” She said with a nod, taking his arm for them to apparate out of the house and back to the rest of their awaiting team.

“We found a body, and considering that there is no other trace of magic other than what’s left of the illegal blood wards means we have found what we came for. I have an ID but I am declaring it need to know, for the head’s eyes only. You guys stay here and follow Shack’s lead and I’ll go report my findings to the boss.” The rest of her team nodded in acceptance and started to secure the area.

Amelia had gone back to the ministry with the information that Harry Potter was dead, and the signing of her last piece of paperwork meant that there was no way she could be able to call the last twenty-four hours a bad dream. She needed to find Sirius, she needed to find Dumbledore and she needed a stiff drink. The war might have been over, but the situation they found themselves in was going from bad to worse. Her information was telling her that Bellatrix LeStrange was now wanted in France for over 90 accounts of murder (and that number was growing rapidly by the hour), that the Longbottoms had disappeared, that Sirius Black had betrayed the Potters to their death and that Dumbledore had been MIA from Hogwarts for most of the past three weeks. This was a political nightmare, as well as a legal one, and she didn’t know whether her choice to remain in her house seat was going to pay off, or leave her skint broke.

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius took a deep breath as he pushed open the door to his first cell. He’d erected silencing charms around the whole corridor, so that Rodolphus and Crouch remained uninformed about his identity whilst he worked over Rabastan. He could only admit to himself that he was looking forward to what he was about to do. He knew that he had a vindictive streak a mile wide, and was now letting that side of him take over as he revived his cousin’s husband. Rodolphus’s eyes only had time to widen slightly before underpowered cutting curses were leaving Sirius’s wand in rapid succession. He made sure to stop before his prisoner had time to bleed out and he squatted down, almost coming nose to nose with the brown-haired wizard in front of him.

“You know that muggles have a handy little trick that they call salting the wound.” He said with an unpleasant smile. “It is said that it hurts like a bastard, do you want to give it a try or are you going to tell me what you know?” Hs smirk grew when Rodolphus spat in his face, and he called for the little house elf that had so far been amazing with them all. “Nip, I would like to ask if I can pinch a bag of salt from the kitchens please?”

“You cans heir Black. I’ll be gettings it for you now.” Nip popped away, only to pop back seconds later with a rather sizable bag. Sirius dismissed the elf with a thanks before using his wand to slice open the top of the bag and levitate it dangerously close to the other wizard.

“Do you want me to repeat myself?”

It was much later that night, when he finally dropped into bed with information for his grandfather and a satisfied smile on his face that he considered how much his life had changed over the past few weeks. He knew that the house magic was probably affecting him more than his rational thinking could currently comprehend, however he’d enjoyed himself that evening, and was looking forward to playing once again with the newest residents of the Black family manor.

O_o_O_o_O

The whole table jumped in fright when a ball of flame erupted over their meal, and only the comforting sounds of Fawkes’s trill kept any of them from drawing their wands. The bird circled around them once, dropping letters in front of each of the Longbottoms; before landing on the back of Harrison’s highchair to play with his black hair; much to the delight of the child.

“If Dumbledore can find us here, we’re in trouble.” Remus worried as Frank, Alice and Augusta opened their Phoenix-delivered missives. Fawkes trilled at that, sounding half irritated and half resigned. “Does he know where we are?” Remus asked the bird, sighing when a trill in the negative filled him with relief. “Will you tell him?” Another negative trill and the rest of his fear was banished.

“He’s writing to tell us that Harry Potter is dead, and that it is safe to come back to Britain.” Alice said, looking over the top of her letter to her mother-in-law.

“He’s telling me that Neville is the child of the prophecy and that I should be leaning on you both to return.”

“Birdy!” Harrison suddenly babbled out and reached out to touch Fawkes’s head. A blinding light filled the room as child and Phoenix bonded, and what arose from the ashes was nothing like any of the room’s occupants had ever seen before.

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius groaned as he rolled out of bed; the next morning. A bed, which was far too comfortable to be getting out of in his opinion, but it _was_ just after half six, and he knew that Arcturus was going to expect him at breakfast for seven. He had slept like a baby after the action he’d had the previous night, and the first signs of doubt had only just started to curl in his stomach. He’d tortured three men last night; enjoying their screams as his creative choice of spells had them bleeding all over their cell floors. Once he’d obtained snippets of information from each of them, he’d warded their cell doors so tightly that only he, his grandfather and Nip could get to the three men. He had to admit to himself that his decision to use an overpowered Nox Maxima was inspired; and he knew that the sensory deprivation he had caused was going to be getting to the three men by now.

He stood under the shower spray for much longer than strictly necessary, before getting dressed into a clean set of black day robes. He’d never worn casual robes as much as he had in the last two days; his school uniform and Auror robes didn’t count and he much preferred jeans and his AC-DC shirt when he was at home. He made his way down to the dining room and was pleased to see that only Melania was in attendance at breakfast so far.

“Good morning grandmother.” He said, taking a seat next to her. He had yet to interact with her much; Arcturus having monopolised all of his time up to this point. “Did everything go smoothly yesterday?”

“Much smoother than your day, by the sounds of things my dear.” She replied with a smile, taking a sip of her tea as she turned the page of her Prophet. “Alice and Minerva warned us of Dumbledore’s arrival with just enough time for us to get out of Oxford. Everyone arrived at Caddington safely, and they were all on their way for a nap when I left them.”

“I’m glad they’re safe, and I know that I have you and grandfather to thank for their safety. What you have done for Harrison alone in the past seventy-two hours is more than I ever thought possible. You have my sincere gratitude.”

“We’re not out of the woods yet Sirius. Politically things are going to get dicey from here on out, if you don’t think you can handle it, you need to tell Arcturus now, or risk putting our house in danger.” Her piercing blue eyes seemed to be peering into his very soul, and he could do nothing but answer truthfully.

“Last night I tortured three men into giving me information. I sat there and enjoyed their screams as much as I enjoyed causing them. I know that I am not the most politically minded person, but it is my aim to learn all I can from grandfather so that I may be ready to sit in our house seat. Grandfather will not steer me wrong in these things, and I will work hard to repair some of the trust that I damaged so long ago. You have my word on these things my Lady.” Melania nodded, satisfied and a bright smile lit up her face.

“A fourth child was discovered yesterday. Tell me of your thoughts regarding byhan Hok’s (little Hawk) existence.”

“It was a shock, but I think I have a better handle on things than I did. I know that it’s grandfather’s intention to sit down with Andromeda today to discuss matters. If all are agreeable, I will make the offer to adopt her as my daughter. James was adamant that her and Harrison grow up together.”

“Dorea foresaw something.” Melania said with a nod. “Those of us with similar gifts to your aunt have known something is about to happen for a while now. She would have Seen more than I, my gifts are not as potent, however; I know enough to confidently say that there are five children who are destined for greatness. You have two under your care, Narcissa is raising a third, this girl is the fourth and there is one more yet to come. You would be wise to make the move to adopt Athena as quickly as possible.”

“Just how important are these five going to be?” He asked. Not that he doubted her word; his grandmother was known for her gifts; they had always run within the MacMillan bloodlines; he was just struggling with the idea that five children could possibly be as important as everyone kept alluding to.

“I cannot go into details, but I can say that the very fate of this world may come to rest in their hands. Therefore, I must implore you to do everything in your power to ensure they grow up close. That includes talking not just to Andromeda, but to her sister as well. The outcome of the approaching conflict may well rest in just how close Fate’s Five truly are.”

“I will do all that I can.” Sirius said with a nod. “Even if it means that we end up hosting everyone at Caddington. I remember visiting as a child, with the size of the place there should be more than enough room for everyone. Besides, the more the merrier, and I would value different perspectives on the matters at hand.”

“That is a wise decision my grandson.” Arcturus said, sweeping into the room grandly. “However, I must implore you to think it through and talk to your mate before proceeding. You may end up playing host to Malfoy, the Grangers and as yet, an unknown fifth party. It is not something to leap into blind.”

“I’ve always enjoyed a challenge.” Sirius said with a shrug and a grin. “Besides, it will be much easier for everyone to get along if we all have a common goal to work towards. You have said it yourself; the Black family look after one another, and especially their children, any arguments can be settled in an open forum.”

“I can’t decide whether that’s more Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.” Melania said with a smirk and Arcturus snorted at his wife’s wit. “Seeing as it will be just the three of us for breakfast, why don’t we review last night’s proceedings?”

“I gained information as you asked my Lord and Lady.” Sirius said with a nod. “Bellatrix was given the cup of Hufflepuff for safekeeping, though Rodolphus swears it was more than just a founder’s trinket. He seemed terrified of the mere mention of it. They were sketchy on the details of their Lord’s fate, they seem to be labouring under the impression that he wasn’t gone, but none of them could give me a reason why they thought that. As for Abraxas; they reckon they haven’t seen him since their last meeting, just before Samhain, but that he seemed very interested in a black ledger the Dark Lord gifted his son, again they seem terrified to even talk of it.”

“That’s because both _it_ and the cup are Horcruxes.” Arcturus said with a nod. “Narcissa gave me as much information about the book as she could; Lucius is tied under an unbreakable vow, as no doubt Bella will be, but the Dark Lord has never given much thought to the power a spouse holds.”

“What is a Horcrux?”

“It is a soul anchor. That is the simplest way to describe it. To create a Horcrux, one splits the soul and places it in an inanimate object, thus preventing death as an incomplete soul cannot cross to the other side.”

“So, he’s not gone? They are correct in their assumption that he is still alive?”

“It is my belief so, yes.”

“Do we intend to attempt to resurrect him?” Arcturus eyed his heir over his cup of tea.

“Do you think me to be a blind follower?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, nodding satisfied when Sirius blushed and shook his head. “I have no intention of raising an insane man back to the living.” He sighed before placing his cup down and crossing his fingers over his breakfast. “The thing about Tomas is that he wasn’t always mad with blood lust. He had ideals, which most of us would like to see put in back in place. He didn’t want to exterminate muggles, he just didn’t think that they had a place in this world. He thought that First-Generations should be brought into our world as soon as they showed signs of accidental magic, their families would have all knowledge of them removed and they would be adopted into various lines, strengthening our magic with new blood. It was never about breeding for him, it was about power, and magic.”

“But he murdered hundreds.” Sirius replied, stunned. “And, anyone who opposed him was added to his shit list and branded blood-traitors.”

“Language at the table Sirius.” His grandmother rebuked.

“Sorry grandmother. I’m just finding this a bit hard to swallow. So, he _was_ once sane, what the hell happened?”

“Dumbledore happened.” Arcturus replied. “Dumbledore is almost directly responsible for Tom becoming what he was on Samhain. I know that the splitting of his soul probably didn’t help, but if it hadn’t been for Dumbledore’s machinations, I don’t believe he would have done it in the first place.”

“What did he do?”

“Allowed Horace Slughorn free rein for one.” Melania tutted. “I never liked that man, always too many fingers in too many pies.”

“Dumbledore always regarded Tomas with suspicion, even when he had failed to do anything wrong. Slughorn on the other hand doted on him, doted on them all really. Pollux, Theodore Nott, Abraxas Malfoy, Tristan Rowle, Matthew Selwyn, Herbert Rosier, Evan Parkinson; all members of his beloved ‘Slug Club’ and all put into contact with the Dark Lord in their formative years, with the exception of Theodore, who was at Hogwarts the same time as Tomas.”

“They were his first inner circle.” Sirius stated rather than asked.

“The Knights of Walpurgis they called themselves. They originally stood for magic, the old ways and the guarding of our secrets. They made a very convincing case, but Dumbledore wouldn’t leave Tomas alone, if he’d had it his way, he would have done it all in the political arena, it was Dumbledore who pushed it to open warfare, and consequently pushing Tomas to take drastic actions to secure himself. I have no idea how he came across Horcruxes, but I can guess who sourced the information he needed to make one.”

“Slughorn.”

“Astute observations dear.” Melania said, smiling at her grandson. “He’s been puzzling it out all night.” She nodded towards her husband who shot her a bashful smile.

“It made sense in my head, and brings it full circle. So, we wait to see what else we can discover before acting on the Horcruxes.”

“We need to retrieve the one Abraxas has taken from his son. If the imbecile tries to resurrect the Dark Lord with a half-baked ritual then it could end up spelling disaster for all of us. I think the best course of action we can take is to gather as many of these things as we can and keep them safe until we know what to do with them.”

“Remus can help with gathering more information into the Dark Lord. When he is in full research mode, there is nothing that escapes his attention. We can help grandfather.”

“Very well, although there are larger discussions to be had in regards to your living situations first. I cannot in full confidence allow you to be courting without the proper traditions put in place. Nor can we allow your idea from earlier go unexplored.”

“I will discuss with Remus upon my return to the manor this afternoon, for now though I would very much like to speak to Andromeda regarding her daughter.”

“I had expected nothing less.” Arcturus agreed with a nod, and they all finished their breakfast in a comfortable silence.


	10. Some Assembly Needed

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Ten – Some Assembly Needed

Emma Granger was ignoring the admittedly, delicious looking cakes; in favour of worrying her lip as she watched the dark-haired man bounce Hermione on his knee. Only Andi knew that she had been involved in the blood adoption ritual, that now had the girl looking almost plain, compared to the black hair and purple eyes she’d arrived to them with; and the older woman looked to be keeping quiet on the fact. They had been summoned to the London townhouse; her brother shared with his wife, to have a meet and greet with Sirius and his grandfather, and she couldn’t decide whether things were going well or not.

“What is it that you plan for her?” She asked, finally reaching out to take a sip of her tea, more for something to do than anything else. “Forgive my forwardness however, she is as dear to me as a daughter.” Sirius met her eyes and she couldn’t help but flinch under his piercing stare. Since Andromeda was in what she assumed to be her base form, and the Lord Black was standing behind his heir’s seat; she now felt as though she had enough basis to make a judgement on the family features of the Blacks; that is to say that the regal air in which they held themselves, partnered with the penetrating, silver eyes and sharp cheekbones, was more than a little off putting.

“It is my intention to adopt her, love her and raise her alongside her brother.” He replied calmly. “With permission I would blood adopt her to ensure that her heritage stays strong, as even now I can feel her magic weakening, due to an adoption that I suspect involved one or both of you. To introduce my blood, and subsequently; the Black family magic, back into her system should have her levels come back up to where they’re supposed to be.”

“We needed some way to hide her.” Andi said quietly, feeling the need to defend her decision. “She was showing signs of carrying the metamorphagus gene, and I needed a way to suppress it, and hopefully change her appearance enough to pass for a muggleborn. Black hair and purple eyes would have broadcast to the world that there was something different about her. We needed to keep her safe.”

“I’m not saying you did anything wrong cousin; it’s just how she’s reacted to having non-magical blood introduced into her system. I know that you have been doing everything you can.”

“So, what you are saying is that you are taking her away from us.” Dan growled. “I can do nothing but wonder how children are treated in your society if our Hermione is any example. We understood Lily’s need for assistance in keeping her hidden, and were happy to take her in, to keep her safe, but she was then returned to the manor, and James and Lily, before being brought back to us two months later and now you are planning on taking her again. She is not a pet you can get rid of when you no longer have a use for her.” Emma watched the man’s eyes harden at her husband’s insinuations and waited for the explosion that was inevitably going to come of his careless words.

“I did not know of Athena’s existence until yesterday morning.” He said coldly. “When I did, my first thought was relief. Relief that she would have been safe with the pair of you, away from the eyes of Dumbledore. However, two nights ago we faked her brother’s death, and now Dumbledore is going to be actively looking for a solution. It was my intention not just to take in Athena, but if you wish it; the pair of you as well. Your knowledge of her identity makes you a target for the headmaster, and you have no way of defending yourselves or your thoughts if he should decide to browse them at his leisure. It is my wish to protect you as much it is to protect her.”

“We have lives we need to live, we can’t just up and leave our practice!”

“If you want to return to your old life then you are more than welcome.” Arcturus piped in from where he was standing behind Sirius. “However, if that is the path that you choose then steps will have to be taken to protect Athena’s identity.”

“Which is fancy talk for obliviating the shit out of us.” Dan snarled back at the older man. Sirius winced and Emma instantly rebuked her husband for his language.

“If Dumbledore discovers Athena, Neville or Harrison are alive, in the country and spoken of as Fate’s chosen then you can bet that he will do whatever it takes to place them under his control. That could well spell disaster for our world.” Arcturus replied, with a voice as cold as Sirius had ever heard it. “Any subsequent war, and believe me there _would_ be one, would quite easily spill out into the muggle world, thus putting the whole country in danger, and magical communities all over the world. That can be prevented by us deciding here and now whether we take the memories from you, or you move into Caddington Hall, set up a new clinic in the local town and have the opportunity to raise these five children.” Sirius knew that it would be up to him to pour soothing oil on the now choppy waters of this conversation. This wasn’t going as well as he had hoped it would.

When he sat down for breakfast that morning, he was counting on meeting with Andromeda and Ted to find some facts into what had happened surrounding this girl’s birth. That Andi had insisted on Emma, Dan and the girl in question joining them had originally been seen as a good idea. Now he wasn’t so sure. The pair were clearly nowhere near ready to give up their now adopted daughter, and his grandfather’s subtle threat of Obliviation had just pushed the situation almost out of their control.

“We’re not looking for an answer today.” Sirius said softly. “But I would like to invite all of you to take dinner with us tomorrow night at Caddington Hall. You can introduce Athena to Harrison and Neville, and scope the place out for yourselves. My grandfather’s suggestion of you moving your practice to Markyate is an idea that I would be more than willing to help you explore and fund. The pair of you moving into the manor with us would be beneficial to all of us, most of all to the girl you have helped to raise over the past year, there is no doubt in my mind that you will all have grown attached to each other, and to pull her away from you now would not just be cruel to you, but to her as well. Please consider my invitation for dinner, even if you don’t want to commit to anything else just yet. I will say now though, that Hermione eventually moving into Caddington is simply non-negotiable. I will do everything in my power to see that she is safe, including going against your wishes. I am just trying to find a solution that is beneficial to us all.”

“We would be delighted to join you for dinner Mr Black.” Emma said, giving her husband a look that could only be translated as ‘keep your mouth shut’. “As I’m sure you understand, our main concern is the welfare of Hermione. Anything else can be sorted out between us, once we know that she is going to be safe and well looked after.”

“You have my word that I will do anything to ensure that is the case, including laying down my own life.” Sirius said calmly but firmly. “Family to the Blacks is everything, and Hermione is a daughter of our house. She will be afforded the upmost protection from anything risking her life or wellbeing. We look after our own.” He glanced towards Andromeda as he said this and she gave him an almost imperceivable nod. He knew that she had sat down with her sister, parents and his grandfather last night to discuss what should happen, now that Hermione’s identity had been discovered. This was the only signal she had given him to confirm what he suspected was going to happen, and he couldn’t be happier for her.

“Then we will see you tomorrow evening.” Emma replied, standing up from her seat and smoothing her dress down with a fidget. Sirius got to his feet and kissed Athena’s head before handing her back to the woman who was now effectively her foster mother.

“I will send details first thing tomorrow morning, once I have had the chance to discuss with the rest of the household.” He said; holding out his hand for Dan to shake. “We mean none of you any harm, but will go to any lengths to see that girl protected.” He nodded to where Emma was now struggling with Hermione’s coat. “You could be very happy with us in Caddington Mr Granger, and it is very much our preferred option for you. I promise that the choice will still be yours on whether to move or lose your memories. I understand fully the position you have found yourself in, as we only secured our own safety, alongside that of my son’s; two nights ago, I just ask that you also look at this from our point of view. Dumbledore poses a threat to all of us, and doubly so, to Hermione. It is our duty as parents to ensure that nothing happens to our children, what we are offering is complete protection from the old man whilst these children of Fate have the chance to grow.”

“You can understand my frustration.” Dan said grimly. “I do not like the thought of Hermione being put in harm’s way, but we still have our own lives to live. I agree that she is better off with you, it is just the idea of Emma and I being faced with a choice of uprooting our lives or having the knowledge of her taken from us, that is causing my anger. We will see you tomorrow night, and this discussion can be furthered once we have witnessed just how you mean to protect her.”

Sirius nodded and they all said their goodbyes to the departing Grangers; Andromeda also fussing over her daughter once Emma managed to wrestle her into her outerwear. The days were growing colder and shorter, and Sirius was determined that the Grangers would see Yule in Caddington, the other option was too terrible to even consider.

O_o_O_o_O

Remus collapsed heavily onto the long bench that made up the seating for the family kitchen’s dining table. He called Flip and asked for a strong, black coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs with plenty of salt. The little creature nodded to him before popping away to alert the kitchen elves of her master’s mate’s hunger. It took no more than two minutes before a pile of steaming eggs and a pot of coffee were placed in front of him and he looked up to see the head elf wringing her hands at him.

“I am sorry Flip.” He said politely. “I have been remiss in asking about the rest of your elves, would you please take a seat and talk me through the rest of the staff?” He gestured to the bench and Flip’s eyes widened. She nodded and nervously took the offered seat; her legs folded beneath her just so she could see over the edge of the table. “I have already met Pelly.” He said, tucking into the eggs and washing them down with some coffee. “She has been doing a brilliant job with Harrison, is she a nanny elf or does she have other duties?”

“There is being five nanny elves in the manor.” Flip replied. “Whens they not being nannies they help Flip with the manor. Pelly is being the head of the nannies, then she has Pip, Cosmy, Sherbet and Bea under her. The kitchens be having Peachy and three; Mimsy, Coby and Blippy, the gardens and grounds is being Patch with Bulb and Rose, the birds is being Gup and the snakes being Venom. Flip has four and they’s being Tufty, Prim, Lilt and Aster. We’s being looking after the house and its masters and mistresses. The nannies are being personal elves once the children are being grown. There is also Sprite and Aloe, they’s being brewers and healers.”

“There are twenty-one of you then.” Remus said with a nod, totting the numbers up in his head. “Do you mind if I write all of this down?”

“Flip is not minding.” The little elf said and popped away to return with some parchment and a graphite. “The head elves are being Flip, Pelly, Sprite, Peachy, Patch, Gup and Venom.”

“Thank you Flip.” Remus said with a smile. “I am sorry that I haven’t asked earlier. Are you all happy with your accommodation?”

“The elves is being having rooms by the kitchen. We’s are happy and warm.” He blew a breath of relief at that. He knew that the old elf looking after Sirius’s childhood home had been horribly mistreated, it was good to know that the Caddington elves at least, were well cared for. Flip and Pelly were always in little dresses and shoes, so he could tentatively assume that the rest were well dressed. “Do you need any fabric for uniforms?” He asked, knowing that using the word ‘clothes’ would set off a breakdown he didn’t think he would be able to manage. Luckily Flip seemed to take the question well and she confirmed that they were all properly dressed ‘so as not to be making the house of Black looking bad’. It seemed the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. He thanked the elf and dismissed her to her duties, tucking into the rest of his breakfast with gusto. Now the only other creature he needed to worry about was the damn phoenix.

O_o_O_o_O

Amelia swore as the owl she had attempted to send to Sirius circled her head before landing beside her and sticking its leg out. Any mail redirect for a fellow Auror, meant bad news. Sirius had been MIA since Halloween and she was getting pressed upon by her boss to start drawing up papers for his arrest. There was no proof that he had betrayed the Potters other than Dumbledore’s word that it had been Sirius who had played secret keeper for them, but her boss had insisted they at least brought him in for questioning. It smelled something rotten to her, but she couldn’t ignore her own niggling doubts that his disappearance meant trouble.

She was currently sitting out in the gazebo that was situated in the sprawling gardens of the Ossuary; her ancestral home. Bones manor had always looked imposing. With its grey stone walls, black slate roof and the huge tower that housed the manor’s cells; the Ossuary was nothing if not commanding. Its name heralded back to her family’s necromancing days, a past which she’d always attempted to bury deep in her psyche; but looking out over the lands, which she knew covered a huge catacomb, she felt closer to her family’s magical history than ever before. She had always suspected that moving into the manor would cause her magic to change; all of the old family homes carried a large degree of latent family magic, however she had been unprepared for the extent of that change.

She scowled at the grey bird, sitting next to her. “Don’t look at me like that.” She muttered, untying the parchment from the bird’s leg. “I’m not the one sitting behind owl wards.” The owl cocked its head at her, blinked and then took off in the direction of the owlery. She sighed and rubbed her eyes; it had been a trying month. The death of the Potters, the burning of Privet Drive, the disappearance of the Longbottoms and Sirius, the reclaiming of her family seat, Susan, _everything_ seemed to have happened in the last four weeks and she was starting to get a little sick of it all. “Rot!” She called, sighing in relief when the house elf heralded her call.

“What cans Rot be doings for you mistress?” The elf asked, wringing its hands in its black robe.

“Can you find Sirius Black to deliver a message?” She asked.

“Rot cans be trying mistress Bones. But if this Blackie is beings behind wards I mights not.”

“Then please take this missive to Auror Sirius Black, and please tell him that the head of the Bones family requests his presence at the Ossuary at his earliest convenience.” Rot nodded, took the letter and popped away. She sighed again and started to make her way back down to the manor doors, intent on feeding both herself and Susan. She had spent less time with her niece than she had wanted over the course of the past few weeks, and she was determined to see that change. Susan deserved better from her.

O_o_O_o_O  
  


Remus jumped as Flip popped into the kitchen. It was long past lunch and the Longbottoms had taken Neville and Harrison out into the grounds for a walk, before the temperatures dropped too low for them to be outside. The two boys had been swaddled in outerwear and layered up with warming charms just so they could take them for some fresh air.

“There’s being an elf here for Master Black.” Flip said, wringing her hands. “He is being Rot and he says he belongs to the Bones family.” Remus swore under his breath before apologising to the elf for his language.

“Will he see me?” He asked.

“I cans be checking.” Flip said and popped away again. He folded his parchment away and closed his black book, not wanting to risk their plans falling into the hands of Richard Bones. That man was far too much on the lighter side of grey for Remus’s liking. Flip soon popped back with a male elf, dressed in a black robe and the creature took a large bow.

“I is being here to request Auror Sirius Black’s presence at the Ossuary, by the request of the head of the house of Bones. I also have a letter for Auror Black, but can tell that you is being his pet-mate, so yous can read it.” He handed Remus the scroll before falling back beside Flip. Remus quickly scanned its contents.

“Sirius is not here presently, however if you could ask Lord Bones if my presence will suffice then I am happy to come with you.” Rot looked a little uncertain but nodded before popping away. Remus looked towards Flip who was waggling her ears in annoyance at what she perceived to be the other elf’s rude manner.

“Rot is being a disrespectful elf.” She huffed. “Master Moon is as much as Master as Master Black.” Remus nearly cracked up at that, but instead thanked her for her concern, assuring her that he didn’t mind. A few seconds later Rot popped back into the kitchen with an expression of annoyance.

“Lady Bones is being saying that Mr Wolf is being good enough for an audience.” This seemed to be an insult too far for Flip who rounded on the other elf in fury.

“Master Moon is being as much of a Master as Master Black, and you will do well not to disrespect one of the Moon’s children in _my_ home.” She was practically shrieking at the male elf and Remus was worried he might end up having to split up a pair of fighting elves before she rounded to face him. “Flip will accompany Master Moon to the Bones house. Rot is a bad elf who needs to go wash his pillowcase.” The other elf growled at her and Remus quickly intervened between the two; filing away the information that it was _Lady_ Bones who was requesting to see him, in favour of trying to prevent an all-out brawl.

“Is there an elf looking after the Longbottoms?” He asked Flip, who nodded.

“There is being Tufty for the Madame and Pip for the little Master.”

“Tufty!” Remus called.

“What cans Tufty be doings for Master Moon?” The elf asked, glancing towards Flip, who was still glaring at Rot.

“Could you please inform Augusta that I have been summoned to the Ossuary, and that I will be back in about an hour?”

“Tufty being doings that right away.” The elf popped out and popped back in seconds later. “Madame is being reminding yous to be careful.” The elf said nervously. Remus smiled and thanked him before dismissing him back to his duties.

“I am ready when you are Rot.” He said holding one hand out for each of the remaining elves. Flip looked at him for approval before grabbing his hand and the three of them popped out of the kitchen.

O_o_O_o_O

“You look well cousin.” Sirius said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around Andromeda. “If a little tired.” She poked his side and he let out a bark of laughter.

“You are a rascal and a cur.” She said with a playful growl; pulling away. “I hope Remus ends up getting you spayed.” He laughed again and shook Ted’s hand as they all moved to sit back on the armchairs. The ritual had gone well, and all but Pollux looked pleased at the obvious changes in the youngest of the three Black sisters.

“You should learn to keep that tongue of yours still.” Narcissa said, only half seriously from the other side of the room. “It will get you into more trouble than you can handle someday.”

“How long was he brooding?” Sirius asked, nodding towards her husband. Narcissa’s lips quirked slightly before her mask was set in place.

“My husband’s dignity remains far more intact than yours will be if you continue down this path.” She said primly, smoothing out her dress. “You never did know when to quit.” Sirius laughed again; happy that the family seemed to be in good spirits. After the events of the last seventy-two hours, and the revelation of what Andi had done for Lily Potter, Arcturus had agreed to reinstate her to the family tree, and the subsequent ritual couldn’t have gone better. Her previously limited powers were now back at full strength and the adoption of Nymphadora, into the family, later that afternoon would ensure the Blacks’ bloodline would continue through her daughter.

“I think you have just missed me cousin.” He said with a cheeky grin, and she huffed; turning to her sister with crossed arms.

“Now I see why Mr Lupin is considered the rational one.” She said. “This mongrel will end up on the end of my wand if he doesn’t keep a civil tongue in his head. Honestly, such rumours are an insult to my image. Missing you indeed.” Once more the room shared a chuckle; this time at Sirius’s expense and he couldn’t have been happier about the situation. That they were comfortable enough to rib him meant that the journey to re-acceptance was already well underway. The discussion was about to turn serious though (no pun intended), as Arcturus stood to address the room.

“After the events of the last three days, we need to take measures to ensure that this family continues to exhibit a united front in the public eye. Therefore, it is my decree that instead of a traditional open ball; Yule will instead consist of a family gathering at Caddington Hall, closed to all but the Black family members, the Caddington household and the minister of magic, whoever that ends up being post this month’s election.” Sirius went cold as the implications of what his grandfather was suggesting washed over him. He had hoped that the Grangers were going to have joined them by then, along with Athena, Andi and Ted and Nym. This was going to be a fucking train wreck. There was only one thing he could say to that.

“We would be honoured to open our doors to the family for the Yule season, and we look forwards to hosting our first official function.”

“He’s shitting it.” Lucius only half whispered to his wife, as the rest of the family once more broke into laughter at his expense; with even Arcturus giving him a familiar smirk. Sirius groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

Yep, a complete and utter fucking train wreck.

O_o_O_o_O  
  


Amelia was staring at the man in front of her like she had never seen him before. This wasn’t the timid, retiring gentleman she was used to dealing with; Remus Lupin had stridden into her sitting room with a confidence she had never before seen in him. That he was dressed to the nines and being followed by a house elf alerted her that something bigger was afoot.

“Madame Bones.” He greeted, taking her proffered hand and kissing the back of it with a respectful bow. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, rather than my mate.” That stalled her for a second before her training kicked in.

“You are here, I hope; to provide me with some answers Mr Lupin. Let me tell you that it is my pleasure to be hosting you.” He smiled disarmingly and waited for her to sit before taking the offered seat.

“I hope to clear several things up with you my Lady, but please understand that there is some information which I am unable to share due to oaths.” Her eyebrows must have given away her shock at that statement as he offered her a wolfish grin that hinted at his condition.

“I would like to first start by asking upon the whereabouts of my missing Auror. The head of the DMLE is pushing for me to draw up papers for his arrest, the death of the Potters is currently being laid at his door.”

“Let me guess.” Remus started with a sigh. “Dumbledore is feeding the department information.”

“That he is Mr Lupin, am I not to believe him?” Remus eyed her with suspicion and leant back in his chair; seemingly assessing her.

“Albus Dumbledore cannot be trusted in the slightest.” He finally said. “I am willing to take a vow here and now that it was Peter Pettigrew that sold out the Potters, _not_ Sirius Black. Dumbledore all but forced the Potters into hiding, and orchestrated a change in secret keepers. He knew that Sirius would die before betraying his friends, whereas Peter was, and always has been, a spineless coward. That he was one of our closest friends has haunted the pair of us since Halloween.”

“There has been no sighting of Pettigrew for the last month.” Amelia said with a frown. “We assumed that the Death Eaters were responsible.”

“Oh, they were responsible alright.” Remus replied angrily. “The little turncoat wouldn’t have been able to return to them after what happened in that house. He would have been accused of bringing about the downfall of the Dark Lord. My guess is that the rat is hiding out somewhere warm and cosy, waiting for this to all blow over.”

“Rat?”

“Peter is an illegal Animagus.” Remus replied. “He takes the form of a brown rat.”

“Am I to assume that all your friends share this ability?” She asked raising an eyebrow. Remus shrugged, not a denial but not confirmation either. “Please remind the dog that he needs to register himself before I catch him.” She said resignedly. Remus grinned as he nodded and she was satisfied to close that avenue.

“Do you know the whereabouts of Harry Potter?” She asked, hoping beyond hope that the werewolf in front of her already had the information, and that she wouldn’t have to do the sad duty of telling him that the last of the Potters was dead.

“That is a matter I cannot discuss with you Madame Bones.” He said cryptically, looking into her eyes with an amber stare. Her heart soared as she decoded the hidden message.

“He’s alive?” She asked incredulously.

“I am not at liberty to say.”

“Is he with you?”

“I cannot discuss the subject.”

“Does Sirius have him?”

“Harry Potter is dead.”

“Are you protecting him?” Remus in the end gave up and pulled his mask up to face her onslaught of questions. He watched with interest as she concocted a theory that was closer to the truth than she realised, though was proud to see that not once did the thought of Sirius re-joining his family cross her mind. Sometimes, he felt like a genius.

“Madame Bones.” He said, after a minute of listening to her think aloud. “I am sure that Sirius will fill you in on the details when you next see each other, for now, please cease all attempts at fishing for information. My oaths do not allow me to speak of the subject so your efforts are therefore wasted.” This seemed to shock her back into silence and she nodded and apologised; calling Rot for a pot of tea and some writing materials. She didn’t miss the glare Remus’s house elf gave him, nor could she wait to hear the story on how it was merited. She knew that the little thing was not the politest of creatures, though from the expression on the female elf’s face, she knew that he’d probably put his foot in it more than once. As she started to ask Remus more questions, she began to get the picture that something larger than her initial comprehension was going on. She just hoped that it wouldn’t spell disaster for their world.

O_o_O_o_O

Dinner in Caddington that evening was an interesting affair. As Remus was filling in the Longbottoms on the discussions he had held with Amelia, Sirius appeared, looking dead on his feet and in need of coffee.

“There is a phoenix on the back of Harry’s chair.” He pointed out as he sat down to a pale of roasted pheasant, buttered parsnips and creamed potato. He liberally soaked his dinner with gravy, moaning at the taste, as though it was the best thing he’d ever eaten.

“We think Fawkes bonded with Harrison last night. From what we can now tell; he is a she who is going to end up with a completely different plumage.” Remus replied; just as stoically. Sirius made a confirming sound; as though he was only half listening, and continued to practically inhale his dinner. “You look like shit Sirius.” Remus finally said, only to be met with a disapproving glare from Augusta for his use of language at the table. “What happened last night?” Sirius finally surfaced from his plate and looked around the table, taking in the expectant faces. His eyes landed on his son and widened.

“Holy shit is that a phoenix?” He exclaimed; only to be met with groans of annoyance.

O_o_O_o_O

Augusta smiled as Tufty deposited her friend onto the rug. The first thing she had done after moving into the suites had been to have the elves change the furniture around, therefore giving her a larger seating area that was positioned well enough to make use of the fireplace whilst still having the stunning views of the gardens, from the huge stained glass windows.

She greeted Minerva before pouring them both a two fingered measure of whisky; passing one of the tumblers to her friend and sitting back into her large, comfortable armchair.

“Fawkes is missing.” Minerva started, noting her friend’s reaction to that news. “He was sent to deliver a message last night.”

“He bonded with Harrison.” Augusta replied, failing to see any reason to hide the truth. “You know what it means when a familiar breaks their bond with their witch or wizard.” Minerva nodded, her face pale at the implications of Fawkes’s actions. “He burned up on the back of Harrison’s highchair. Gave the lot of us quite the fright, but he left not even a mark on the little tyke. Bloody thing is now female and sporting dark blue and pale rose plumage from what we can tell; Remus has taken to calling her Eos.”

“How very poetic.” Minerva responded faintly.

“Does Dumbledore suspect anything?” Her friend shook her head at that before downing her whisky in one swift gulp.

“He has taken to disappearing into his office in the evenings. The portraits are reporting fits of anger and heavy drinking followed by him collapsing into his chambers. With the elves on hand to offer sobering potions, and the fact that nothing seems amiss during the day means I can’t officially move against him.” Augusta growled at that.

“The bloody fool will end up doing more damage to that school than any of us will be able to handle.”

“To move against him now would spell disaster. There is no hard evidence against him, and even taking him out of the school does not remove him from the game. He could prove even more dangerous when we take away the biggest consumption of his time and attention. He is better left where we can keep an eye on him.”

“Your opinion surprises me, but I cannot disagree with it.” Augusta replied with a sigh. “I would have thought you would be championing to see him outed.”

“Normally; yes, however this is not a normal situation. Besides, a failed coup would do more harm to us than good.”

“I will share your sentiments with the gentlemen in the morning.” Augusta said with a nod, topping up both of their glasses. “I might however, have something that could help.”

“Oh?”

“Remus attended summons from the head of the House of Bones this afternoon.”

“So, Amelia is on the case then?”

“You knew about her taking the headship?”

“Richard and his wife were killed just before Samhain in a raid against some of the lighter families and Amelia took headship about a fortnight ago. How did you not know?”

“We have been concentrating more on keeping ourselves alive Minnie.” The Longbottom matriarch responded snidely. “Not to mention the house seat has been allowed to go dormant, do you really think that I have had the chance to be keeping up?” Minerva shrunk slightly at her friend’s rebuke.

“I apologise Gussy. I know how this past month has affected us all. I guess I just assumed you had been following the politics of it all.”

“I have been able to do bugger all from Oxford.” She replied with a huff, aimed more at the situation she had found herself in, rather than at her friend. “I am aware however, that Remus has started to keep a black book, but even he admitted that Amelia’s headship threw him for a moment. He’d first assumed he was to be meeting with Richard, and then when the elf let slip that it was _Lady_ Bones, he would be having an audience with, he’d again assumed that it would be Olivia. I don’t think any of us imagined that Amelia would take the title if something were to happen. We all thought her to be going after the Director’s job at the DMLE. I assume then, that she is taking care of the little one?”

“To that I am unsure. Nothing has been said about a child, so I imagine that she has taken her in.”

“I may suggest to Sirius about moving the pair of them here. Her job, coupled with her new duties will be enough to see her spend too much time away from the little one. That is not the kind of household a child should grow up in.”

“That _is_ a bold suggestion.”

“It would be a long-term project. After the state in which Sirius returned to us this evening, I suspect similar conversations have been going on for the last two days. We’ve seen hide nor hair of him until tonight, and he was in no fit state to divulge anything. Remus practically carried him to bed.”

“My guess is that the Lord Black will have been keeping him busy to truly test where his loyalties lie.”

“I believe that Arcturus truly wants to _think_ him trustworthy, but I am under no illusion that we have a long way to go to prove that; and after dragging _us_ into this I am making it my mission to see that we succeed.” The pair fell silent after that, both lost in their own thoughts.

O_o_O_o_O

Yes, the Black family was going to take some reassembling before our story’s heroes could begin to come into their own. But Fate was patient, she knew that this would take no small amount of finesse if it was going to become the family unit her children needed. Sirius was starting to more than earn his keep and his mate had already proven himself to be no slouch in the diplomatic department either. The next month was going to be make or break for her plan, and she knew that she would need to keep her finger on the pulse if she was going to prevent Chance from sneaking another curveball into the fabric of Time.

The attack of Bellatrix LeStrange could have spelled catastrophe for her plans, but she was pleased to see that Chance’s Stratagem had worked to her advantage. She was now playing with a full deck of Black Queens, whilst Chance was left with a couple of Jokers in the shape of the LeStrange brothers.

Sometimes it was easy to manipulate things to her advantage, though she knew that she would have to keep a closer eye on things if she was to protect her deck.


	11. Family Dinners are Really Quite Extraordinary

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Eleven – Family Dinners are Quite Extraordinary

The following morning dawned clear and bright over the gardens of the Caddington estate. There had been a definite chill in the air over the course of November, but now the twelfth month was upon them; the turning of the seasons and the approaching solstice was being felt deep in their bones and magic. It had been an age since he’d truly celebrated the old festivals but he’d always ensured that a festive spray had found its way into his surroundings.

He’d been terrified when he’d first tied a sprig of yew to his bedframe in Hogwarts. Terrified that James would call him out for practicing that which the light saw as ‘evil and forbidden magic’. Instead, his friend had simply poked fun at his meagre decorative skills before disappearing for an hour, only to turn up with arms filled with holly, ivy, yew, mistletoe and pine. The four of them had then spent the afternoon decorating their dorm with the greenery before James had looked him straight in the eye and declared that he didn’t care how he celebrated the seasons; only that he should feel comfortable enough around them, to let them help.

It felt like an age since that first Yule; all of them snuggled up in huge cable knit sweaters; lounging around their dorm whilst watching the snow fall over the forbidden forest. He still remembered Remus’s skittishness around them, the way that he didn’t dare believe they would accept him. He still remembered James’s loud proclamations at five o’clock on Yule morning, and how they’d all thrown their pillows at him in hopes of getting him to go back to sleep. He still remembered the way in which Peter had caringly shared out his Christmas chocolate, knowing that his parents didn’t care enough about him to send him anything. He still remembered the love and warmth of those early days, when even though war was brewing, and his home life had turned to shit; he’d been happy.

“You’re thinking too loudly.” Remus mumbled, rolling over on the bed, to take up the space he’d vacated. He glanced over his shoulder at his slumbering mate with a smile before turning back to the huge stained-glass window in front of him.

“Sleep eluded me in the shape of a snoring wolf.” He replied deadpan; laughing when his head was hit by a well-aimed pillow.

“You sir, are a bastard.” Remus growled, setting his hilarity off again. “You should be letting me sleep.” Sirius made his way over to sit on the edge of the bed and carded his fingers through his mate’s sandy hair.

“It is almost eight, and the sun is up. You’re getting lazy in your old age.” The death glare he received for that could have killed, so he uncovered his secret weapon. “Flip!” He barked.

“What cans Flip be doings for Master Sirius and Master Moons?” She asked; her ears wiggling.

“Can we have a large pot of coffee and two breakfasts in our living area please?”

“Flip cans be doing that, but the Madame InValley wanted to remind you that you shoulds be tellings them the goings on from yesterdays.” Sirius groaned at that and it was Remus’s turn to laugh at his mate.

“In the kitchen then please Flip. We’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Yes, Master Sirius!” She said with a happy squeak; popping away to attend to her duties.

“Since when did Augusta become InValley?” He asked, eyeing his mate.

“The elves want to seem to call all of the Longbottoms that.” Remus replied with a shrug. “I’m still working on the reason why. So far, I’ve narrowed down their name to a somewhere in West Yorkshire. There is a place called Longbottom in Luddended Foot, and there was an Anne Longbottom christened in Rothwell in 1559. The only other avenue would be trying to decipher what it derives from. I suspect it’s Old pre 7th century English, but I haven’t had the time to look into it yet.”

“Where did you find the time to look into it in the first place?” Sirius asked incredulously.”

“You _have_ been gone two days Sirius.” Remus replied, forcibly trying _not_ to sound accusatory. He knew that it wasn’t Sirius’s fault, and he knew that old man Black would have been working his heir to the bone over the past forty-eight hours, but he couldn’t help but feel a little abandoned and detached from it all when they’d practically been dumped into the manor and left without even a word.

“I’m sorry okay?” Sirius said with a sigh, his shoulders slumped. Remus felt like a right shit after that; he didn’t want his mate to feel guilty. “Things have happened over the last forty-eight hours that will affect us all. The least I could have done was keep you appraised.” Remus sat up and wrapped his arms around his mate’s middle.

“I don’t want you to feel guilty.” He said apologetically. “I know how heavy things must have been for you to have come home in that state last night. It was just hard not knowing if you were alright after you went after Bellatrix. I’ve been worried.” Sirius turned into his embrace and they sat there for a few minutes, trying to digest what had happened to their lives over the last few days. “I can’t lose you as well Pads.”

“You won’t.” His mate replied. “I promise.”

Both knew that it was a promise he wouldn’t necessarily be able to keep, but just for that moment, they could pretend.

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius nervously glanced around the table at his family’s expectant faces and realised that this would be the first of many household meetings he would have to hold. He stood from his place at the foot of the table and made his way around to stand at its head. He’d managed to delay his address until after they’d all eaten, but now Augusta was starting to shoot him a frankly; dangerous look, and he knew he’d pushed it as far as he could.

“Okay, so I know everyone has a lot of questions, but there is something you all need to know before we start. I am still digesting this piece of news myself, and subsequently not even Remus knows what occurred two days ago.”

“Is this about Harrison’s adoption?” Alice asked fearfully, clutching onto the boy in question who’d been happily sitting in her lap all morning. “Did everything go through okay?”

“Everything was fine.” Sirius replied, calming her fears. “The goblins withheld the announcement from the ministry until after we’d visited, so as far as anyone is concerned Harry Potter is dead, and Harrison Black was adopted by me, and is a descendant of Marius. On that front, everything has gone without a hitch, and there is no paper trail to suggest anything other than what we want the ministry to know.” There was a breath of relief around the room, and he knew that it would be short lived. “There was something discovered at Gringotts though, and I want you all to take time to digest it before bombarding me with questions. On September 19th 1979, a child was born to Andromeda Tonks. This girl; Athena Violet; is a direct heir of the Potter line.” He held his hand up to prevent the onslaught that news was about to receive and continued on without so much as a pause. “As Remus, and possibly Alice is aware; Lily took a curse on a failed raid some point in November of 78. A curse that started to give her troubles around her moon.”

“I remember her throwing up a lot, and having pains.” Alice butted in. “She was always sheet white and dropped a couple of pounds every month. She just told me that she was getting unwell from her moon, and that it was normal for her family at her age. Are you telling me that she lied?”

“She had to.” Augusta replied. “If they had been trying for a child, keeping up the pretence in front of Dumbledore was a must. For the pair of them not to be trying for an heir after being married for so long, it would have caused issues, not to mention starting to try for one before giving up.”

“They were unable to conceive.” Sirius said, taking back over the narrative. “They sought help from Mungo’s and were informed of the curse.”

“They were desperate then.” Frank said. “They must have been.”

“James apparently approached my grandfather for permission to ask Andromeda to be a surrogate.”

“Arcturus knew?” Remus growled, his eyes starting to bleed amber.

“He took a vow of silence, only to be broken when I’d discovered the truth. It was the first thing I confronted him on. I was as angry as you are, but James had made him swear not to tell me anything until I found out.”

“How _did_ you find out?” Augusta asked, already taking notes in a black book that had apparently appeared from her purse. “I’m assuming the Lord Black didn’t break his vow.”

“The goblins informed us. Apparently, my grandfather was unaware that Andi and James had actually conceived and birthed a daughter, the fact that Andi was blasted from the tree would have left him blind to the actual birth, beyond James asking for initial permission to approach her.”

“So, this child is the heir to the house of Potter?” Alice asked.

“The house of Potter is patriarchal, Athena was made the heir apparent after Harry’s birth, and as I am now head regent of the house, she is unlikely to inherit unless I decide to pass the house to her. I will state here and now that the kids should be allowed to make up their own minds on what they inherit once they come of age. If Harrison wishes to carry the Black name only, then the Potter name can be offered to his older sister or passed to one of his children, should he be fortunate to bear pups later down the line.”

“So where is the girl?” Frank asked. “Forgive me for saying that it is unlikely she would have stayed with Andromeda after her birth.”

“She was actually raised in most part by Lily and James.” Sirius replied. “Two weeks after her birth Lily became unbelievably pregnant with Harry, and if you remember she took a long confinement within the Atelier, most of that time was spent raising Athena.”

“So, this child holds both the Black and Potter names then.” Remus muttered, his hand flying over his own black book as quickly as Augusta’s was.

“Dorea blood adopted her at Lily’s request once they went into hiding. It isn’t stated but I get the idea that Lily herself, adopted the girl after her birth.”

“That doesn’t answer my initial question.” Frank responded with a huff.

“I know. And, I want everyone’s wands in the middle of the table before I tell you.” The rest of the family gave him dark looks but conceded, and four wands were soon sitting in the middle of the dining table. “I want you to remember that Lily and James had as much of a hand in raising this girl as possible, and that she hasn’t been abandoned by her surrogate mother either.”

“Spit it out Sirius for goodness sake.” Augusta grouched. “It can’t be that bad.” Sirius winced at that and took a breath.

“She is currently being raised by the sister of Edward Tonks and her husband.”

“She’s with muggles?” Augusta shrieked, flying out of her seat. “They gave her away to _muggles_?”

“She’s only been with them since Lily and James went into hiding, they’ve had as much contact with her as they have been able to afford and Andromeda has been paying her regular visits. She has _not_ been given away. I have also met with Emma and her husband, and can safely say that the Grangers are a fine couple with only Athena’s wellbeing in mind. Daniel was ready to punch me when I suggested taking her away from them.”

“Isn’t that the best thing though?” Remus asked. “For her to be here with Harrison and Neville?”

“That is something I would like to discuss with you all. Andi, Ted, Emma and Dan are all invited for dinner here this evening and I would like to offer them all places here in the manor. There are five heir suites upstairs and another ten bedrooms still standing empty. One is to be gifted to the Grangers and one to be gifted to the Andi and Ted, with Nym getting her own rooms when she has outgrown her parents. There is enough space here for us not to get in each other’s way, and I fully believe that raising these children together gives them the best of survival come time for them to leave for Hogwarts.”

“There is something you’re not telling us.” Augusta said, her eyes narrowed. “What is it that you know Sirius?” The man in question sighed and rubbed his eyes. He cursed the fact that Longbottom matriarch was anything but unobservant and he knew it was time to come clean.

“There is another prophecy of sorts.” He responded after some minutes. “But it is as vague as it can be. At least I can be sure that this one is _real_ as it has been mentioned not just by my grandmother but also in the Potter Grimoire. Dorea apparently knew of it.”

“Do you have the wording?” Remus asked, trying to keep calm more for his mate’s sake than his own. He knew that he would lose it if he took time to actually digest the news, so he was deflecting.

“I do not. However, it is supposed to reference five children, all born within the Black family at roughly the same time. It is thought that Harrison and Neville are two of these children and Athena is thought to be a third.”

“I can make a good guess for the fourth.” Frank muttered to his wife.

“You can?” She replied. “Who is it?”

“It has to be the Malfoy boy.” The man stated, turning to Sirius with an accusatory expression. “It is isn’t it? Are we to play host to Deatheaters as well as muggles?”

“My grandmother believes it to be Draco yes.” Sirius replied, knowing that no one would buy any lie he told. “And we knew that we would have to rub elbows with the Malfoys at some point. As it is, I have no intention of inviting them here at the minute, however my Grandfather has decreed that we are the ones to host the family dinner at Yule, so we have until then to make a firmer decision. We have more immediate problems to talk through before then.”

“I believe it would not only be cruel to rip this girl away from her foster parents, but it would put them in as much danger as we’ve been in for the last month. If we are safe, why not offer them sanctuary? They have given us no reason to do anything but trust them with this girl’s safety. If they were of magical blood, I would be an advocate for leaving the girl with them however, she needs to be around her brothers. I vote we have them here in the manor. The Tonks’ too if they are agreeable.” Sirius was unsurprised that his first ally was to be Augusta, but the ferociousness in which she gave her support was overwhelming.”

“You know that I will follow you anywhere Pads.” Remus chipped in. “This girl is going to be important to our family. I fully support the decision to bring her here. It’s the least we can do for James’s heir.” Sirius turned his attention next to Alice, again unsurprised to find support from her corner.

“They would be a welcome addition to the household. _All_ of them. There is enough space here to accommodate them.” The unspoken but alluded to, support for the Malfoy situation was appreciated, and he had all intention of revisiting the issue before Yule. He turned to Frank. He knew that it was his support that would be most difficult to achieve, however the man confidently nodded his head.

“I said that I’d support you, and in this matter I will. I will require a much lengthier conversation in regards to the Malfoys though. I don’t think any of us are ready for them to be living with us just now.”

“I understand and thank you for your support. You have my word that Narcissa, Lucius and Draco will be discussed in greater length once everything has settled. I know that this isn’t what we had imagined when we started out, but I fully believe that it will be beneficial to us all in the long run.” With that, the discussion over Athena was closed. Augusta though was not ready to give up the conversation just yet, and began to explain Remus’s meeting with Amelia, and her suggestion for the woman making the same move as the Grangers.

It was going to be another long morning.

O_o_O_o_O

Severus was pacing. The situation was spiralling out of his understanding and he was becoming increasingly frustrated. The Potter boy was dead, Dumbledore was in a rage and McGonagall was looking more and more relieved by the day. He’d pressed her for information the night they’d sat in Dumbledore’s office and witnessed the falling of Privet Drive’s wards. She had however, been keeping mum on the events of that night, telling him that as soon as she was able, she would explain what was going on.

“You are starting to make me dizzy.” The Scot said from her place on his settee. She was in her now usual spot, drinking a glass of his Firewhiskey and watching him pace in front of the fire. “Sit down for Merlin’s sake and have a drink.” She poured him a glass of the amber liquid and held it out expectantly. He eyed it for a few minutes before taking it and downing it in one. She topped him up and demanded he take a seat. He didn’t argue.

“I don’t see how you can be so calm about the situation.” He said grouchily.

“Because I have information that you do not.” She replied. “And am therefore immune to the throes of panic that seem to be ailing you.”

“It’s frustration not _panic_.” He muttered.

“So you keep saying.” The tone of her voice was mild and tinged with something akin to amusement.

“You’re enjoying this.” He hissed accusingly.

“There are many things which I enjoy in this world and believe me Severus, watching you pace is not one of them. I have explained to you, numerous times that there is information which I am unable to share with you, and yet you seem determined to drive me around the bend until you get it.”

“Pettigrew is your contact, isn’t he?” He asked, catching her flinch. “He’s been feeding information to you from the Dark Lord’s side.”

“I can assure you that if I ever lay eyes on the person responsible for James and Lily’s deaths, I would end his life without a moment’s thought.” Minerva responded coldly, standing from her seat and smoothing down her robes. “I had hoped that you held me in higher regard than that Severus. It seems as though we’re both wrong about something tonight. I bid you a good evening and we shall continue this when I have more information for you.” Without a glance back she left his quarters, slamming the portrait hole on the way out. He swore at himself and ran his hand over his eyes. He’d really put his foot in it this time.

O_o_O_o_O

When the letter came it was not unexpected. What _was_ unexpected was the way in _which_ it arrived. Getting a phoenix delivered missive was always a cause for surprise, that the letter bore the seal of the house of Black, and a separate note to tell her that Eos (the bird’s name apparently) would wait for her reply; only added to her bewilderment.

_To the dear Lady Bones,_

_I apologise for my unavailability yesterday afternoon, and hope that the appearance of Mr Lupin as my proxy was not too much of an inconvenience. Times have been somewhat chaotic as of late, and I found myself inescapably indisposed._

_In recompense I would like to invite you and your niece to the Black residence of Caddington Hall, this evening at eight o’clock for dinner, and a fuller explanation of the events surrounding Privet Drive and the night of the 28 th of November. Should you wish to attend, please pass on a missive to Eos, along with this letter. If you are unavailable, please pass this letter back along regardless, as we wish our address to stay secure. _

_I hope you are able to make it, but I understand if you are unable._

_Sincere regards,_

_Sirius Black, Heir to the House of Black, Head of House Potter._

She finished the letter with two questions on her lips; when did her Auror swallow a dictionary, and what the hell did he mean; Head of House Potter? She quickly scribbled a confirming note and stamped her ring into the pale grey wax.

“You better tell the bloody mutt to get ready for lots of questions.” She muttered to the phoenix as she handed it her missive. Eos squawked at her and disappeared in a ball of flames. She poured herself a whisky from the cabinet and downed it just in time for Sirius’s reply to arrive, once again; by phoenix.

_Amelia,_

_The Heir to the House of Black can be found at The Orrery; Caddington Hall. The Floo is open and feel free to arrive early._

_Regards,_

_Sirius._

Well at least this one was more informal. Probably to do with the colourful language she’d used in her own note. She was sure that her grandfather would have had a fit if he’d seen the scribble she’d passed off as an official letter, but she was past caring. She checked her watch and saw that it was heading for half six already. The Firewhiskey was downed and she went in search of her niece, who had been left in the care of the only nanny elf in the manor.

If the phoenix was any indication, it was going to be an interesting night.

O_o_O_o_O

Amelia would have been correct in her assumption that the evening was going to be one to remember, as Remus checked that all the preparations were going according to plan, the Tonkses and Grangers arrived early and unannounced. Andi’s subsequent quip about giving him practice for Yule did nothing to calm the werewolf’s nerves; but he was careful not to let them show as he greeted the two families and was rewarded with his first glimpse of Athena.

“May I welcome you to Caddington Mr and Mrs Granger. We are honoured to host you this evening, my name is Remus and I am Sirius’s Mate.”

“You’re the werewolf then?” Dan asked, holding his hand out stiffly. Remus heard Emma’s tut behind her husband and found himself internally cringing.

“That would be correct. I am dangerous only one night a month where I chain myself up in our basement until the sun comes up.”

“Leave him alone Dan.” The woman almost growled; pushing her husband to one side. “You were there when Lily told us how he is treated, do you want to be lumped in with the rest of the bigots?” She met his eyes head on and gave him a one-armed hug, Athena’s presence on her hip preventing her from wrapping that arm around him too. “Ignore my husband.” She said warmly. “We have no problems with your condition, and let me just tell you that it is an honour to meet one of Lily’s best friends. She spoke very highly of you and I have no reason not to trust her judgement. She was one of my closest friends as well.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” He replied, a lump forming in his throat at her instant acceptance. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”

“He’s just a big awkward lump.” She replied, jabbing her finger over her shoulder; towards her husband. “Don’t pay him any mind.” He nodded and called on one of the elves to take their jackets. The Grangers stared wide eyed at the little female elf who introduced herself as Aster before popping away with their coats.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to them.” Remus replied with a chuckle. “They keep the household running much smoother than I could manage alone.”

“You have to look after this place yourself?” Emma asked as they made their way to the informal parlour.

“Sirius is officially Head of the Household, so he would traditionally look after our finances, politics and House duties. As his Consort I would be expected to look after the Household’s day to day running.”

“Forgive me saying, but it all rather seems old-fashioned.” Emma said, her eyebrows lifting at Remus’s subsequent chuckle.

“Yes, it does rather, but we are very much a partnership here. Sirius doesn’t put too much stock into the Old Ways, The Orrery is mainly run by the elves, and the rest of us talk over our family affairs. Sirius is really just the face of our merry little gathering.”

“I resent that remark!” The man in question exclaimed as he rounded the corner, straight into the group. “I am more than just a handsome face, I bring the charm, the pizzazz and the glamour to this house. Without me, you would be a sorry bunch of bookworms.”

“That head of yours is getting far too big again cousin.” Andi said, passing the rest of the group to give Sirius a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Would you like me to remind the group of your spectacular crash and burn yesterday afternoon?”

“They don’t want to hear about that.” Sirius replied hastily, his cheeks pinking slightly at his cousin’s gentle rib. “There are much more interesting topics to discuss.”

“I second that.” Remus muttered, causing Emma to burst into laughter at his side. The small girl on her hip also broke into beautiful giggles and Remus couldn’t help but watch her, full of wonder.

“Would you like to hold her?” Emma asked.

“Would you mind?”

“Not at all.” She promptly dumped the child into his arms and the pair stared at each other for a few seconds.

“Moon!” Athena gurgled. “Moon Moon!”

“She speaks?” Sirius asked in wonder, staring at his mate and the little girl in his arms.

“Her vocabulary is limited to Mum, Da, Dan, Em, Foo, Mink, Di and Ted. That’s the first time she’s ever said Moon.” Emma replied gleefully. “Our little ones are growing up!” Remus looked up at Sirius before a huge shit-eating grin spread across his lips.

“She got _my_ name before yours.” He said, bursting into jubilant laughter. He started bouncing the child on his hip and spinning around in circles, much to Athena’s delight. “You got my name before his, didn’t you princess? Who’s a clever little Hawk?”

“Moon!” The laughter that rang around Caddington was music to Sirius’s ears. His mate was happy, Emma looked thrilled, Dan had an expression somewhere between constipated and chewing a wasp and Andi and Ted were in awe of how happy Athena seemed to be. Tonight, was either going to be a success or a clusterfuck. If he was honest with himself; he was betting on it being the second.

O_o_O_o_O

Amelia pinched herself for what seemed like the fiftieth time that evening. Her niece was happily gurgling away to the other three toddlers whilst Andromeda’s eldest played peekaboo with them all, over the settee. The food that evening had been wonderful, the stories she had heard; unbelievable and now Sirius was asking her if she wanted to move in!

“Sirius, it’s a very kind offer…”

“Just give it some thought Ami.” He replied when she trailed off. “Susan would be much happier here and it will give you some much needed help if you are going to refuse the Director’s job and stay head Auror. Your shifts are crazy as it is, never mind having a little one to take care of.”

“Do you think she is one of the Five?” Emma asked out of curiosity.

“I am not sure.” Sirius replied. “There is Black blood in the line of Bones, but it is very weak. The Five are said to be of strong Black birth. I’m sorry Ami, I can’t give you a straight answer, but I’m pretty sure she isn’t one of the Five.”

“In all honesty I’m relieved to hear you say that.” Amelia replied. “I know that it sounds awful, but I don’t want that kind of thing hanging over her.”

“I know exactly where you are coming from.” Sirius replied, looking over to where Athena, Harrison and Neville were playing. “Believe me.”

“So where could this fifth child be?” Dan asked. “You say that Athena is one, Harrison is two, Neville; three and this Malfoy kid is the fourth, do you have any ideas?”

“Not really.” Sirius said with a wince. “They may not be born yet, they may be due any day, they may not be due until next year.”

“But I thought their births were supposed to straddle the turn of the decade?” Emma asked with a frown.

“Prophecies are at best shaky.” Augusta responded. “It is a very inaccurate branch of magic.”

“I have faith that they will be discovered when the time is right.” Alice said softly. “They may not need their siblings right now, but one day they will, and when that day comes, they will be brought to us.”

“So, what is it that you intend to build here Sirius?” Amelia asked, concern furling in her stomach at what Sirius’s actions meant.

“A family. First and foremost, and always; a family. After that, whatever the kids need. A support system, a safe space, a school. Whatever they need from us going forwards, that is what we will be. The best way for that to happen is if we can build a stable relationship between each other. This Household is in no way a dictatorship, but if one of us steps out of line, it will be the kids that suffer. I will not let that happen.”

“Neither will I.” Augusta replied. “Sirius is here to keep all of us in check, and we are here to play the same role for him. I have been nothing but supportive thus far, but believe be when I say that I will not hesitate to call him an idiot if his actions are detrimental to our goal.”

That Frank was the first to stand was somewhat of a shock to the room’s occupants and none so much as Sirius himself, who was under the impression that the other man was anything but happy with their current situation. That it was Frank to first raise his wand was an even bigger shock, and the events that followed just kept bringing those shocks to the rest of the family.

“I Francis Harfang Longbottom, pledge here and now that I will do whatever it takes to see the children of this family safe. I will love them, cherish them and shield them from harm. I pledge myself to Sirius Black, and all that he is trying to achieve.” Alice was next, repeating her husband’s words, and one by one the room stood up, including Amelia, cementing her decision to stay with the Household; and gave him the same pledge, until only his mate was left.

“I Remus John Lupin, pledge myself to my Mate, Sirius Black, to love him, to cherish him and to stand with him against any harm that may befall him. I pledge myself to our children and to our Household; to love them, cherish them and shield them from harm. I pledge myself to the House of Black, and to the world we are trying to build.” Sirius was almost in tears as he stood to answer their pledge. He looked around the room and the seven wands that were held in the air, and his eyes fell to Emma and Dan, each with their fists over their hearts, their vows having been taken with the rest.

“I, Sirius Orion Black, pledge myself to you all. To love you, to shield you and to cherish you. I pledge to respect your opinions, to listen to your advice and to do everything in my power not to fail you. I pledge myself to our children, to love them as my own, to protect them with my life. I pledge my blood, and my magic to you all. Your father and protector; by blood, by spirit and by heart, your father and protector; by blood, by will and by oath. Toujours Pur.” He had no idea how the family dagger came to be in his hand, but he slit his palm anyway and let his magic flare. He dipped his other thumb into his blood and placed its print upon the foreheads of every occupant in the room, and when he was finished, he could feel the sheer amount of magic that had built within the air.

Something had changed that evening. Something indescribable, and almost a hundred miles away, sequestered in the office of Black manor, Arcturus felt the change in the family magic; the power of the oaths taking root in the bloodline and strengthening it. The consequences of those oaths would not be fully realised for almost a decade, but when they were, the world would never be the same.

The House of Black was on the rise. Four had been found, three had been collected, and the fifth was about to make their appearance. The plans of Fate were well in motion, and Chance was on the move.


	12. Prophecies and Portraits

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Twelve – Prophecies and Portraits

Amelia stalked through the ministry on a mission. Her face must have been a picture of the fury she was feeling inside, as several grey cloaks scurried out of her path as she stormed towards the lifts. Swatting a memo out of her face; she punched in her destination and the lift doors closed. It would seem that her temperament had scared all others away from boarding, as she was the only occupant of the cart as it started its descent towards the DoM.

Sirius’s admittance of having not heard either of the Prophecies in full had left her ranting at him for at least an hour. Her insistence of him collecting both had left _her_ with egg on her face, as Augusta shot down the idea with a scathing; ‘Are you an idiot, not to see how him running into Dumbledore could spell disaster for the family?’ She’d relented somewhat and informed them that she would collect both Prophecies herself after her shift had ended.

She’d been in a horrendous mood all day. Her team had barely interacted with her; knowing that she would chew them out for endless questions, and her boss had practically locked himself in his office, knowing that she wouldn’t hesitate to chew _him_ out for needless pestering. She knew that Barty was practically begging her to take his job, after the election, but taking her House seat had helped sow the seeds for her inclusion into the Caddington household. In all honesty, she’d been unsurprised when the head of the DMLE informed them that he was going to run for the Minister’s spot, after Bagnold’s retirement; but she conceded that he’d be a much better candidate than Fudge. The bumbling fool could barely fight his way out of a paper bag, much less take up the running of their government.

The lift shuddered to a stop and she took a deep breath before making her way towards the DoM offices. She needed to see Croaker; he was the only man in that department she knew that she could trust implicitly and that was the downside of taking her House seat. As the head of the DMLE, it would have given her complete access to certain parts of the DoM; the hall of Prophecies being one such area, but the benefits were still outweighing the negatives at the moment, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

“You look like shit Ami.” Was the man’s greeting when she opened his office door after a smart knock. “Have you been in this mood all day?”

“I need to get into the H.O.P.” Was her answer, ignoring her friend’s, not so gentle ribbing. “I have two Prophecies to pick up.”

“And, to who do these Prophecies pertain?”

“Harry Potter.” She knew that it would be pointless and counter-productive to lie to the man in front of her, he’d just pick the truth straight out of her head if he thought he smelt bullshit. That was probably why she liked him so much, everything was either information or lies, and woe betide anyone who tried to sell him the latter. “There are two spheres in that hall, one referring to the events of Samhain, and one referring to Five children of power. I need both.”

“You really _are_ all business, aren’t you?” He asked, getting up from his desk to pull down a large, moth eaten book. “And here’s me thinking you came down here to see me.” Her answer was a glare that had the corners of his mouth quirking into a smile. He opened the tome with a loud thump and ran his finger down the list of Prophecies, seemingly knowing what he was looking for, without having to probe her for more information. He paused half-way down the page and gave it two light taps as he hummed in thought. “The second one I can definitely help you with.” He said, looking up and over his glasses at her. “The first however, may not be all it seems.”

“How so?” He stared at her for a long minute before sighing and sitting back down into his chair. He gestured towards the visitor’s chair for her to take a seat, and she did so, her previous mood melting away at the familiar surroundings of his dusty, book-lined and comfortable office. “We record all Prophecies thrice.” He started. “You know this from your previous discussions with me. Once in the Hall’s catalogue, once in the Head’s office and once in that book.” He pointed towards the huge manuscript which was still laying open on the end of his desk.

“Please get to the point.” She answered with a sigh, rubbing her forehead as an ache flared behind her eyes.

“What many are unaware of, and what you did _not_ learn from me if anyone were to ask; is that if there are irregularities with a sphere, it is recorded in my book, and in _my_ book only.”

“We already know that the Prophecy is a fake Croaker.” She said grouchily. “That doesn’t negate my need to retrieve it.” Her friend’s grey, bushy eyebrows had disappeared into his quite impressive hairline at that, and the usual twinkle in his amber eyes was back in full force.

“Well then!” He exclaimed happily, clapping his hands. “Let’s go and get your Prophecies my child.” He stood up and grabbed his cloak from the hook by the office door, as well as a spare visitor’s cloak, which he passed to her. She put it on obediently, lifting the hood to cover her face, as per the rules of the DoM. She liked that about the Department; after being allowed access by an Unspeakable, you could walk around with impunity, and no one would be any the wiser of who you were, or what you were doing in the Halls. The cloaks shadowed your face, and most used whispers when transiting the halls, meaning that unless you made your presence known, you were practically indistinguishable. Only certain Unspeakables could tell their colleagues apart (Croaker was one of such a talent) and even then, it was usually not in their nature to point you out.

They left the little office and headed towards the double doors at the end of the corridor and she caught herself holding her breath as they stepped into the revolving room that made up the bulk of the DoM. It was unusually busy that afternoon, the doors were fixed in place, as dictated when there were several members of staff within the chambers, and a higher than usual number of black cloaks were bustling from one door to the next.

“They seem busy.” She whispered to her colleague, who simply hummed in response as he steered them towards the Hall. She had always admired him for being able to tell the eight non-descript doors apart, and they always ended up in the place they needed to be, even though she couldn’t always tell you how they had managed to get there. It was an odd part of the ministry, where neither time nor space seemed to make any sense, and where you left, often questioning reality. She loved it.

“I must remind you not to touch them.” Croaker whispered to her as they stepped through the door to the Hall, and were greeted by the pale blue light of the ever-burning torches. “Only I may lift them down for you.” She nodded and followed him through the rows and rows of faintly glowing orbs. She marvelled at them, as she had done twice before when visiting for a case, and her respect for the man in front of her grew. Croaker knew these shelves like the back of his hand, always knowing instinctively where he needed to go, and she found herself wondering if he spent his free time down here, reading the tags of the shelves. “There are far too many for that.” He whispered, picking the thought from her head with an ease which had first unnerved her. She had always assumed that he was a natural occlumens and he’d never denied it, leading her to believe as such. “But my considerable number of years, and my quite ingenious logging system makes them easy to navigate if you know what you are looking for. Now here we are.” They turned into a row and he walked a little way down before grabbing a pair of sliding steps and pulling them towards where she was standing, near the end. He pulled down a smaller than expected orb and passed it to her carefully, watching as she tucked it into the bag which she had brought for this very purpose.

Once the first orb was secure, they set off again through the stacks; much further into the hall, until she could no longer see the entrance.

“The whispers of the Five span way back before my time here.” He whispered to her. “This particular orb is one of only a few that hasn’t dulled with the years, in fact, it has started getting brighter and bigger as of late, which tells me that the Prophecy in question is becoming more active.” It was her turn to hum in response and he chuckled at her opacity. “I will respect your privacy on the matter my child, but the word of this particular orb’s collection will not stay silent for long. I am one of three keepers of the Hall, and we check these particular orbs almost daily. Its collection will spread.”

“Nothing escapes this Department Saul.” She replied candidly. “As long as I’m not hearing about it in my coffee break, I do not mind that it becomes common knowledge down here. You are looking busier than usual, and with the death of Harry Potter and the disappearance of the Dark Lord, your colleagues have much more on your plates than the collection of an old Prophecy.”

“Your naivety charms me Amelia. I have been here almost a century, looking after this Hall and its contents. Of all of my duties, it has got to be the most important part of my job. Believe me when I say that the collection of this orb is the most exciting thing to happen to this Department in at least a century and a half. How many orbs do you think are created each year?”

“A couple of dozen?” She answered with a shrug. “Thirty?”

“In the last three years we’ve seen on average; the creation of almost one hundred Prophecies. That has to be the highest count on record, and we have put it down to the war, and the fact that magic is becoming more unstable. In the last year alone we’ve seen the creation of thirty-five new orbs, which is the highest count for a single twelve-month period in our history.” He stopped them both before a series of dusty, wooden shelves. They had clearly entered the part of the Hall which most didn’t see; the part where the Prophecies were over a century old. The roof was lower here, creating an almost cave like appearance compared to the rest of the hall, and the shelves were low, rotting and covered with cobwebs and dust. The place was littered with cracked, dull and dusty orbs, most of them grey, or barely glowing, and one particular sphere had turned black, causing Croaker to pluck it from the shelf, almost absentmindedly and drop it into his pocket. “When these Prophecies were spoken into being, the hall was lucky to see five of these things a year. On average we see that number of spheres collected from the main hall. We haven’t seen a collection from this section in over two decades and the number of dead Prophecies has been only growing in number.” He gestured to his pocket and the black orb he’d plucked from the shelf.

They set off again through the low shelves until they came to one of the biggest bloody spheres, she’d laid eyes on that day. The orb was glowing brightly, and she thought she could see faces through the mist swirling in it.

“Pay no mind to its size.” He said, catching her horror. “It just demonstrates how many of those with the gift have Seen it.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better, surprisingly.” She replied dryly. He chuckled at her and lifted the orb off of its pedestal, needing two hands to carefully balance the quaffle-sized sphere. She opened her second bag and felt the weight of the orb on her shoulder as Croaker carefully placed it inside.

“It will be safe for you to handle when we leave the Hall, but only those to who it pertains will be able to activate it.” She nodded and the pair of them made their way back through the shelves, arriving at the door much sooner than she’d anticipated. It seemed like no time at all had passed until they were sitting back down in his office, sipping mugs of tea, and she was once again left questioning the schematics of reality.

O_o_O_o_O

Arcturus and Melania greeted Remus warmly as they stepped through the Floo, and he soon found himself playing host once more, to the Lady Black when Sirius pulled his grandfather to one side. He made sure to take the long way around to the family lounge, picking up a commentary of the changes they had made to the manor in the week that they had been there.

It had been four days since they had all pledged themselves to his Mate, and in that time the Grangers, Tonkses and Amelia had all successfully moved in (with much help from the house elves of course). Amelia had brought a single elf with her from the Ossuary, and Remus remembered Flip’s relief to find that it wasn’t the ‘disrespectful’ Rot, but a female nanny elf by the name of Morana, who had to that point been helping Amelia raise Susan.

“I am to believe that Narcissa and Lucius are joining us tonight.” Melania said serenely; cutting off his explanation of how they had been able to move some of the landscapes from the library to the main part of the house.

“They’re already here.” Remus replied, stopping them at the end of one of the many corridors that linked the rooms together. “They arrived over an hour ago, and there have been no problems other than Narcissa’s light ribbing of her cousin. It is Sirius’s intention to move them into the manor in the future, we are having to learn to adapt to each other’s presence, and we do so, knowing that it will ultimately benefit the kids. They are our main priority here, and Draco is one of our future wards. We are trying to build a good, solid foundation for them, and if Andromeda can have no problems with her sister, then why should we?”

“Well said Remus.” The Lady replied, eyeing him in respect after his not-so-short, defensive rant. “I meant to merely inquire on whether you’d told the elves of Lucius’s aversion to fish though, I wasn’t questioning what your intentions were.” His light blush gained a soft laugh from his companion and he called on Peachy to inform her of the last minute changes to dinner.

“Peachy bes knowing this from Flip anyways Master Moons. We bes having everything in hand for Master Argus.” She popped away to more delicate laughter from Melania.

“We can’t get our elves to call him anything but Peacock either.” She explained. “I believe he takes it all in his stride.” She took his arm and they continued their way through the manor, reaching the lounge just behind her husband and Sirius.

“We wondered where you had disappeared to.” Sirius greeted with a lopsided grin.

“Your mate was giving me a wonderful view of the changes he’s been making to the manor. I must say that the Turner landscape of my mother’s looks much better in the drawing room than it did in the Library. I never liked the fact that the wall in there was full of those landscapes. I’ve often thought that the portraits would be much better served in there.” Melania replied with a smile, kissing Sirius on the cheek as she went to join her husband. “Are we all ready to hear some Prophecies then?” Sirius nodded and joined his mate in leading his grandparents into the already full family lounge. Narcissa, Alice and Augusta were occupying one of the settees, seemingly deep in discussion, Frank, Dan and Ted were on another, whilst Emma, Andi and Amelia were keeping the five youngest children company on the large, soft rug.

“Where’s Lucius?” Was the first thing out of Sirius’s mouth as he surveyed the room.

“He’s taken Nym up to the bathroom.” Andi replied, waving off her cousin’s obvious concern. “She was adamant that her new Uncle Lucy was going with her.”

“That’s going to stick.” Remus muttered to Melania who promptly burst into giggles again. He patted himself on the back for having relieved the growing tension in the room, after his mate’s blunt question, and took her arm, leading her over to the ladies on the far settee. She joined them with a thankful nod to him, getting her greetings out of the way before launching herself into a conversation about some recent research she’d undertaken into the Longbottom name. By the time he’d turned to leave them Arcturus had joined the men on the other settee and he and Sirius were beginning to look like spare pricks at a wedding. He knelt down onto the rug with Amelia, Emma and Andi, leaving his mate to glare at him and take the armchair closest to the rest of the men.

“How are you holding up?” Amelia asked, bouncing Harrison on her knee.

“We’re okay.” He replied softly. “We had a feeling something larger was happening, this prophecy doesn’t change that.”

“I’m a nervous wreck.” She admitted, glancing towards Susan. “I scared everyone off yesterday when I went to collect the bloody thing. It’s lucky that Croaker is made of stronger stuff than my Aurors, I was in a right mood all day.”

“You always give them hell.” Remus said with a grin. “What’s new?” She glared at him, poisonously and he chuckled at her expression. “Whatever happens tonight, we’re all in this together. I don’t know what that thing is going to say, but I’ve been doing some research into the Black and Bones lines. Your last Black relative was almost four generations ago. Your great-great-grandfather’s sister married the only son of Elladora Black and an unnamed male of the Prince line. The last direct descendent of them would probably be Severus Snape, and I don’t think we have to worry about him being mentioned in this thing. Apart from that, I cannot find a direct Black descendant for Susan. I think she’s safe.”

“That makes me feel somewhat better, but the thought of _any_ of the little ones being in danger upsets me enough for me to be scornful of this bloody thing’s existence.”

“I know. But remember we’re all here to help them. That’s why we’re so grateful for you moving in.”

“It was the least I could do for Susan and for you and Sirius. I can’t imagine what you two must be going through right now. To know that you will end up having all of these Five children as your wards, and knowing they will be put in danger must be chewing on your insides.”

“We’re doing alright, all things considered. I know that Sirius has calmed somewhat since the other night. Letting him know that our support was always going to be there, and be unwavering has humbled him to the fact that he doesn’t have to do this alone.”

“There are many things that you can describe Sirius as Remus.” Andi piped in from where she was helping Athena and Neville stack blocks up for Susan to knock them down. “But humble is certainly not one of them.” That drew a laugh from Emma and subsequently Athena, and before they knew it, they had five laughing children on their hands as they tried to rein in their own hilarity.

O_o_O_o_O

_‘The One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…’_

“So, we know that the version you gave to me last month was the complete and unabridged version.” Arcturus said once the voice died from the sphere. “I had wondered if there was more.”

“So did we.” Sirius replied, his voice steady. “If we’d known that it was the whole thing, we wouldn’t have asked Amelia to risk collecting it.”

“You didn’t ask.” She muttered. “I insisted because both of you are knuckleheads.”

“Now, children let’s not argue.” Melania piped in with a sing-song voice. “At least we know that our intelligence is correct. I suggest we take a listen to the second orb before making any judgements on whether the trip was necessary.” Remus nodded and took the larger orb out of its bag, placing it on a stand on the floor. Four of the five younger children looked at it with huge eyes, before turning to each other and babbling away angrily. It didn’t seem to matter how much coaxing the adults tried, none of the four were ready to put their hands anywhere near the thing.

“Perhaps it requires all five of them?” Narcissa said after ten minutes of angry shouting from the kids. “We should start to look into the identity of the last child before picking this back up.” Sirius groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

“Why can’t anything just be simple?” He asked in a despairing voice.

“Because it’s your spawn we’re dealing with.” Lucius sneered from the back of the room.

“Behave Lucius.” Narcissa rebuked. “Draco is as much a part of this as Harrison is. This isn’t Cousin Sirius’s fault.”

“That makes a change.”

“I said behave!” She snapped sharply at her husband, the temperature in the room dropping at least a few degrees; despite the fire.

“At least we know who wears the robes in your marriage.” Ted said with a snort, earning him a glare from his own wife. “I’m kidding.” He responded, holding his hands up.

“Curse the ferociousness of the Black women.” Lucius muttered to him lowly, before both of them cracked up, much to the disapproval of their wives.

“As entertaining as it might be to watch your wives disembowel the pair of you; we’re here for a reason gentlemen.” Arcturus rebuked. “Please try to focus.”

“Yes, My Lord.” The two men responded in unison, glancing at each other as they did so.

“So, what happens now?” Emma asked softly.

“We will have to park this discussion until we’ve located the last of the Five.” Remus replied. “I’ll start looking into it, first thing in the morning.”

“If you would permit us to stay the night, I can help you with that.” Melania replied. “I know this library better than I know the one at the Black Manor. I’ll be able to find you the family grimoires in less than half an hour.”

“You are welcome here any time.” Sirius replied quickly. “There’s a spare room on the third floor, next to the library on the left. It’s the one just down from Augusta.”

“Then I think we better bench this discussion until the morning.” Arcturus replied. Remus internally winced at what he knew had to leave his mouth next, but he couldn’t in best faith leave the Malfoys out of the discussion. He just hoped his mate and the Longbottoms would forgive him.

“There are quite a few spare rooms, if you would also like to stay the night.” He said, addressing Narcissa, rather than her husband, as Black family custom dictated. “We can have one of the elves get one ready for you if you wish.”

“As tempting as that offer is, I’m not sure the rest of your household are ready to experience my husband’s early morning temperament.” Narcissa replied graciously. “Thank you for making it however, and we will definitely take you up on your offer of hospitality at a later time.” Remus dipped his head in acknowledgement of her refusal, pleased to catch Arcturus nodding his approval at him as he turned to glance at his mate. Sirius looked resigned more than angry, Augusta seemed a mixture of pleased and proud and Frank looked as though he’d swallowed a wasp. At least they didn’t seem angry.

O_o_O_o_O

“Couldn’t sleep?” Alice asked, shuffling into the library in her dressing gown and slippers. Remus shook his head, turning the page in the manuscript on his lap. Harry was next to him, curled into his side and his thumb in his mouth, looking completely at peace, and the picture of innocence. “Me neither.” The young woman replied, dropping down onto the armchair opposite, Neville balanced on her shoulder.

“Has he been grouchy?” Remus asked; looking up at her, noticing the boy for the first time.

“Ever since we showed them all that bloody sphere.” She replied with a groan. “He’s been babbling away to himself all night, and a little tantrum just before bed caused quite the light show.”

“Harry’s been the same.”

“So has Athena if the screaming from Emma and Dan’s earlier is anything to go by. I believe Andi had to intervene.”

“At least Lucius and Narcissa will be suffering as well then.” Remus said with a grin. “I could quite believe it when Narcissa told me that Draco can be grouchy at the best of times. I expected a rebuttal from Frank earlier when I offered them a room for the night.”

“Frank knows that they will eventually move in. I believe if you ask him what changed his attitude, you’ll end up with some made up crap about doing it for the kids. It took me a single evening and a rather nasty hex before daddy learnt his lesson.”

“Dear Circe that’s more information than I ever wanted Alice!” Remus almost shrieked, being mindful of the two slumbering boys. “Keep your dirty games to the bedroom!” She fell about laughing at the huge blush spread across his cheeks and he realised that he’d been had by the young woman in front of him. The confirmation that they were safe had breathed some life back into the Longbottoms and Alice had been practically glowing with happiness for the last few days.

“You should see your face.” She choked out before falling about in another bout of hysterics.

“I now fully believe what Lily used to say about you.” He grouched. “You are a menace in your own right. The spawn of Morgana. The bane of mankind. The curse of Hogwarts. The list could go on all night.” Alice wiped her tears of laughter away and stood up from her chair, lifting Neville back into her arms.

“I’m going to warm some milk.” She said, dumbing the boy onto the settee, next to Harrison before smacking a kiss on his cheek. “Watch the children for me and I’ll get you a mug.” He watched her go, a scowl on his face, but his heart a little lighter than it had been three hours ago. Maybe he could believe that they could all get through this together.

O_o_O_o_O

Minerva sighed as she sipped her whisky and flicked through a bunch of essays. The nights were growing ever colder in the castle, and even with her fire lit, and a knitted shawl around her shoulders, the chill had started to set in her bones. Perhaps she was getting too old for this game. Perhaps the events of the last few weeks were telling her that it was time for her to retire. Perhaps it was the whisky going to her head, despite the fact that she’d been nursing a single glass for the past three hours. A knock on her chamber door startled her out of her musings and she checked her pocket watch; growling to see that it was almost midnight. If this was a student, she was going to be handing out detentions until Christmas.

“Good evening Minerva.”

“Filius.” Her shock must have showed on her face because her friend chuckled at her obvious shock.

“May I come in?”

“Of course, please excuse me, I was just grading papers.”

“Sir Wallace told me you were still up.” Her friend said, nodding towards the portrait above her fireplace as they took a seat on the settee. The medieval knight looked somewhat abashed at that and he bowed his head towards the pair.

“Forgive me, my Lady.” He said. “Sir Marshal requested to know if Master Flitwick was able to contact you.” Minerva nodded at the portrait and turned to her colleague.

“What couldn’t wait until morning?” She asked, summoning a bottle of whisky and pouring her friend a measure.

“It is a delicate subject.” Filius started, shifting nervously.

“Out with it Filius before I decide to go to bed.” The scot snarked, her patience at its end.

“I just wanted to know how you were dealing after the news of the Potter boy.” He replied quietly but kindly. “I know you were worried for the lad, and I can’t even begin to imagine how you must be feeling.” She froze at that. In the midst of the news coming from Caddington, and the fact that she was currently managing the situation with Dumbledore, she’d forgotten that she was supposed to grieving for a boy she knew was still alive. “So, he’s not dead then.” Filius said, when she’d taken too long to answer his question. “I suspected as such. You really don’t make a very good actor.” She got up from the settee and made her way over to stare into the fire. Of _course,_ he’d known that something was going on. He was as astute as she was, how could she have been so stupid?

“Sirius Black has him.” She said stonily, after a good long silence. “And, if I hear that bandied around the corridors you can believe that I will put your duelling record to the test.” She glared at him with what she hoped was fire in her eyes. “That boy is not safe in the hands of Dumbledore, and if Albus were to ever find out that he is still alive, it would most certainly end in that boy’s death.”

“So, your hatred for our Headmaster is real.” He said casually, swirling his drink around in its glass. “I’m pretty sure that most of the student body is talking about the looks you keep throwing him at the breakfast table. You really _must_ start being careful Minnie. No one will hear anything form me, and I shan’t bring this matter up again but I strongly advise you to watch your actions. I had however, already guessed that the Black boy had him, and I ask you to please let him know that if I can guess it, then so will a number of others. If he is receiving paprers, which I very much hope so, then he” He downed the whisky and got to his feet. “Goodnight Minnie, I’ll see you at breakfast.” He placed the glass on the coffee table and made to leave.

“Filius.” He turned to see his friend with tears in her eyes, looking like she’d aged a decade. “Thank you.” He nodded and slipped through the portrait, making his way back to his quarters, unaware of the dark eyes that followed his departure.

O_o_O_o_O

“There you are.” Alice said, passing him a mug filled with frothy, warm milk. “The elves told me you take it with honey, I hope that’s okay.” He nodded and took a sip, groaning at the comforting sweetness.

“I needed to ask you something.” She said, wrapping her hands around her own mug and leaning forwards in her seat.

“Of course.”

“I know that there are things Sirius hasn’t told us, and I get why that is but…”

“Out with it Alice.” Remus groaned. “I can’t answer you if you’re not going to ask.”

“When Sirius was convincing Frank to move here, and join the family; he made a claim about the LeStranges…”

“They’re in Azkaban.” Remus said without a thought before pausing with a frown. “Wait, that’s not right.”

“No, it’s not.”

“But they were sentenced to fifteen years, they were arrested at the Arboretum.”

“Then how are they, and Barty Crouch Jr, in the cells at Black manor? How come none of us can remember a trial? How come Amelia hasn’t mentioned it? Surely if they _had_ been arrested, Crouch Sr wouldn’t be in the political position he is now.”

“I know what you’re getting at Alice.” Remus said, a frown still on his face. “And I know that your reasoning is logical and _true._ But I remember Sirius telling me the same thing, a few nights after you arrived in Oxford.”

“I thought it seemed odd that we’d not heard it from another source, but I put it down to it getting lost in all the news coming out of the Ministry, and the fact that we were stuck in Oxford for so long. But then last week when Madame Black appeared, it all came rushing back to me. Frank told me of the discussions he’d had with Sirius, and the fact that the four of them had been arrested, and I pushed it out of my mind.”

“So did I...” The man admitted. “I’ll ask him again in the morning. I’m fairly certain he wasn’t lying when he told Frank that. He isn’t the sort to lie to get what he wants. In fact, I’m not sure whether he’s actually _able_ to tell a convincing lie.”

“Frank hasn’t said anything yet, so I’m pretty sure he hasn’t worked it out either. But then, Augusta was also in that meeting, and she’s not one to miss _anything_.”

“Something is definitely going on.” Remus agreed. “If Sirius can’t tell me what’s wrong, I’ll ask Lady Black.”

“She seems fond of you.”

“I’m just glad they’re _accepting_ of me.” He muttered. “Arcturus knew from the outset that I was a wolf, I’m just glad that he’s agreeable to my match with Sirius.”

“What’s become of that?” Alice asked. “I fail to believe that he hasn’t had a discussion with Sirius about a formal courtship between the pair of you.”

“He has. The lucky thing for us at the moment is that we are well out of the public’s eye. In regards to the family side of things we are officially courting, with an engagement ring to come as soon as we step into society.”

“Not even engaged and you already have a son.” Alice said with a grin as she sat back into her armchair, the subject of the LeStranges dropped for the time being. “Now what a scandal _that_ will make.” Remus groaned, much to quiet laughing from Alice. His eyes turned to the now sleeping pair of boys at his side and decided that he wouldn’t have things any other way. They were going to get through this as a family, for their children and for the future of their world.


	13. The Moon or the Pasture

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Thirteen – The Moon or the Pasture?

When Sirius found his mate, curled up with Alice and the two boys, the following morning; he couldn’t help the feeling of absolute love that bubbled up in his chest. It was crazy to think that it had only been a little over a week since they’d affirmed their love for each other, wrapped up in the bed in their tiny flat in Oxford. It seemed like an age ago, so much had happened since then. He was loath to wake them, but he knew that the manor would soon be starting to stir; and he hated to imagine his grandmother’s reaction if she found them like this.

He gently shook Alice awake; lifting Neville from his place between her and Remus and greeting the stirring boy with soft words and a stroke of his brown hair. The little one yawned and stretched out his pudgy arms, almost hitting him in his face, and he chuckled at the surprised expression that came to his face when he realised, he was in Sirius’s arms instead of his mother’s

“Hello little _Dagda_.” Sirius greeted. “Did you sleep well?”

“Morning.” Alice mumbled, stretching out her own muscles.

“Good morning. I thought I’d better come and locate my mate before my grandmother found him sleeping in an unrespectable place. I was pleasantly surprised to find this little one also snoozing with his Uncle Moony.” He tickled Neville’s stomach, producing a giggle from the boy which promptly woke his aforementioned uncle. Alice by this point had made it to her feet and lifted Harrison into her arms, greeting the small boy sunnily. Remus on the other hand groaned as he sat up, and Sirius called on Flip for a strong, black coffee with plenty of sugar. The little elf was back in under a minute and passed the cup to Remus, only to watch in horror as he downed it in one.

“Master Moons should not bes drinking this so fast!” She said in alarm. “Its being bad for him!”

“Its okay Flip.” Sirius said soothingly. “He practically lives on caffeine and books.”

“Does Master Moons need another one?” She asked, her ears wiggling in her distress.

“Yes, please Flip.” The werewolf in question replied, handing her the now empty mug. She was once again back in under a minute and by this point his mate looked almost awake enough to move.

“We should get going and get dressed before your appearances cause a scandal in the household.” He said, expertly swapping boys with Alice so that she could take Neville to get dressed. Remus nodded and got to his feet, sipping on the second mug of coffee with an appreciative nod to Flip.

“I’lls be sorting clothes for the Masters and bes telling Pelly that the little Master is awake. And, I’lls also bes telling Tufty and Pip the same for Master and Mistress InValley and Little Master Neville.”

“Thank you Flip.” Sirius said, allowing the small creature to pop away to her duties. “Now you two, we need to move. Grandmother will be up any minute.”

O_o_O_o_O

“Am I to take it that your night was as unpleasant as ours was?” Narcissa questioned; in lieu of a proper greeting as she breezed into the family dining room, her husband and son following behind her. She was, as always immaculately dressed, and looked as though her night had been anything _but_ unpleasant. Lucius however, seemed to be still half asleep, glaring at his son through bleary eyes as if he was Mordred incarnate. Remus instantly offered the Malfoy Lord a mug of coffee and grinned when the blond merely nodded and collapsed into a chair, next to Frank.

“I have no idea what happened last night.” He muttered to the other man. “But the little thing would not stop his infernal racket.” Frank grinned at the Malfoy Lord, and lifted his own mug of tea up in a salute.

“Welcome to fatherhood.” He said, laughing when Lucius’s head promptly hit the table.

“Get your head off of the table young man!” Melania shrieked as she glided into the dining room. “Learn some manners, honestly I don’t know _what_ Abraxas has been teaching you.”

“My apologies my Lady.” He responded, lifting his head to take several large gulps of his coffee. Melania tutted at him before taking a seat near the head of the table.

“I take it Alice showed you in?” Remus said, standing to greet Narcissa.

“She did. We apologise for dropping in unannounced however, after the events of last night I thought you might want all hands on deck, so to speak.”

“It is not a problem.” Remus assured her. “You are welcome here any time.” He glanced towards Frank as he said this but the man merely nodded his head.

“Remus is correct.” He said, when it became obvious that Narcissa had caught Remus’s slip. “If Sirius’s plans come to fruition, we may all be living under one roof somewhere in the near future. Our doors will always be open to you until then; especially when it concerns the safety and wellbeing of our children.” Melania looked thrilled at that announcement and took the opportunity herself, to sneak a glance at her grandson and his mate, both looked pleased, if a little cautious and she couldn’t help but feel pride in what Sirius was trying to build here.

In all honesty, both she and her husband had known that re-establishing Sirius as Heir to the Black throne was going to be a gamble of epic proportions. He was in line to inherit eventually anyway, but re-introducing him into the old-ways would ensure that their house didn’t die out. Neither of them could have imagined how big of a coup this would turn out to be, as Sirius had not only established a running household, he was working towards growing it into something quite special. The house of Black had seen only two other multi-family households in all of it’s quite considerable years, and neither had been quite like this one.

The respect she held for the young Mr Lupin was also growing with every encounter. He would make a fine addition to the family, in her opinion. The obstacle of them not being able to sire heirs was already negated with Harrison and Athena, and the introduction of the rest of the Five was only going to provide the family with the opportunity to grow further. She was, for the first time in quite a few years; hopeful for the survival of the house, and it was all thanks to the pair, currently sitting at the head of the breakfast table. The pair who; after being re-introduced to the family a little over a week ago; had secured a Ministry source, a Hogwarts source, helped to push the re-introduction of a lost daughter through and had already built a respectable household. She was not just hopeful, but excited to see where the pair were going to take the family next, it should turn out to be quite the spectacle.

O_o_O_o_O

“I want to know who your contact is.” He said bluntly, as he watched her secure the menagerie of animals back into their various cages, around her classroom. He was leant up against the door with his arms crossed, having glared at the last class of the day as they filed out of her classroom.

“All in good time Severus.”

“I am being serious Minerva!” He snapped. “You tell me that you have access to information that you know I want, and you ask me for protection in return, and yet you refuse to divulge the source of your knowledge, which leaves me in the dark as to whether the information you have shared is even truthful.”

“You are asking for something which I am not at liberty to divulge Severus.” The woman replied, finally locking the last cage and turning to face him with pursed lips. “I am under _oaths,_ and I would have thought that you would understand what I can and cannot divulge. You have spied yourself, and therefore know the importance of choosing which knowledge to share, and which to keep to yourself. I keep the knowledge I have, because sharing it could see several children put in needless danger. Do not ask me again or I will have to find myself a different partner.”

“I want to know the _truth._ ”

“And you will, in good time, but I have to discuss the information I share with my contact _before_ I share it. You are just pushing against a brick wall Severus. I have given you the information I promised, you have received Lily’s journals and yet you still seem to want more. Honestly, you are acting more like a lion than you are a snake, stay patient and stop harassing me for information; especially where we can be overheard.”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe that you are not spreading this around our colleagues.” He hissed. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that Flitwick _doesn’t_ know.” She froze at that and he allowed a smirk to pull at the corner of his mouth.

“Our arrangement is at it’s end.” She replied coldly, her eyes hard and her lips pursed tightly. “Please leave.” That stopped him in his tracks.

“Minerva…”

“Get out!” She snapped, cutting him off. He bowed slightly and left her to her anger, berating himself for pushing her. He would have thought he’d learnt his lesson by now, for when you toy with lions, you are almost certain to get mauled.

O_o_O_o_O

“Have you found anything yet?” Amelia whispered to Remus as he flicked over another page with a frown. Melania had excitedly revealed to them one of the many secrets of the manor that morning, in the form of a hidden bookcase door in the library, that opened to a huge drafting room, complete with a circular conference table and a magical, rolling chalkboard. Over twenty seats were spaced evenly around the circumference of the stone table, with space in between them to spare, and not even Lucius, who was the tallest in their company by quite a large margin; was able to reach the dead centre. Remus was quite overwhelmed at the sheer size of the thing, and had been more than a little tempted to get up on the table and crawl across it to reach a book some hours earlier.

“Not yet.” He replied back, just as quietly. The research team had all been taking shifts, flitting between the books and looking after the children, who had been watched over by Dan and Emma for most of the day. Remus had paired off with Amelia, Narcissa with Melania, Alice with Andromeda, Ted with Arcturus; and most surprising of all had been the pairing of Lucius and Sirius, who were drafting a large family tree on the blackboard, their handwriting being scarily similar. Remus stood to allow Amelia to take his seat and pointed out the line he was working on. “Eight women have used the surname Svansdotter in the last two centuries.” He said, pointing out eight lines on a relatively new (considering they were looking at books five times that age) page.

“Why the name of Merlin do we have a copy of the Norwegian census?” She hissed quietly.

“Because my child,” Melania started, showing that either she hadn’t been quiet enough, or her thoughts on the matter were loud enough to hear. “Norway is one of three northern countries; our ancestors have made it to. Our best estimate is that, these women could be descendants of a man, taken by Vikings in the early ninth century, during one of many raids along the coast of Ireland. We believed his line dead until Mr Lupin here discovered that his surname may have simply changed to a Patronym.”

“So why _are_ we looking that far north?” Amelia asked.

“Because we think that one of these women may have made it here.” Remus replied quietly. He pulled another large book towards them and opened it near enough in the centre. “Duva Svansdotter is listed in a southern British census only once, for a marriage to…” He trailed off as he read the surname and glanced at her nervously.

“She married a Bones, didn’t she?” Amelia asked with an air of defeat.

“We’re going to need a copy of your house census and a family tree my dear.” Melania chirped happily.

“But Susan had no reaction to the prophecy last night.”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself.” Remus said soothingly; standing up and putting his hands on her arms. “We have no proof that this is Susan’s ancestor, she may be from another branch of your family altogether.”

“I can only think of a handful of families we have married into.” Amelia said faintly, her complexion pale as the weight of this information settled inside her. “And even fewer in the last century.”

“Don’t panic.” Remus said forcibly. “We are here, whatever happens, but we need a ledger.” Amelia called for Rot, her eyebrows lifting when Flip popped in seconds later.

“Flip is being making sure Rot isn’t beings disrespectful to Master Moon.” She squeaked, much to the amusement of the room’s occupants. Rot looked quite put out but soon turned his attention back to his mistress.

“What cans Rot be doings for Mistress Bones?” He asked.

“I need the family ledger and a copy of our tree.” Amelia responded. “And, I think you owe Master Moon and Miss Flip an apology.”

“The female is being telling Rot to wash his pillowcase.” He replied, unhappily.

“You is being disrespectful of Master Moon.” Flip replied, looking quite ashamed of herself.

“Apologise Rot.” Amelia almost growled, her nerves fraying.

“Rot is being sorry to Master Moon for calling him a pet-mate.” The elf in question said with a bow in Remus’s direction. “Rot isn’t being knowing that the wolf was a Master.” Flip huffed at that.

“And, an apology to Flip please Rot.”

“Rot is being sorry to Flip for disrespecting her Master.”

“Then Flip is being sorry for telling Rot to wash his pillowcase.” Flip replied bashfully, holding her hand out for the other elf to shake; which he did, after a stern glare from Amelia. He nodded and popped away to find the documents requested, and as soon as Flip followed both Alice and Lucius broke into laughter at the other side of the room.

“Are they all like that?” Ted whispered to Melania.

“Do you mean, are all house elves bat-shit crazy?” Lucius asked, wiping his eyes. “The answer is most definitely yes. House elves are born with a hyper gene that ensures their lunacy.” He shot an apologetic glance at Melania who had tutted at his use of language, grateful when Ted promptly continued the conversation.

“I’ve only seen the ones at Hogwarts.”

“They are delightfully helpful little creatures.” Melania replied. “Black manor has forty of them.”

“We have twenty-one.” Remus replied. “Not including the elf that Amelia brought with her.” Rot popped back in and handed a large book and a capped scroll to his Mistress before popping back out, not wanting to stick around and risk another encounter with the crazy female elf. Amelia dropped the documents onto the table and opened the ledger near the recent, front pages.

“Okay, we’ve had marriages into the Abbotts, the Greengrasses, the MacMillans and the Lovegoods.” She said with a sigh. “It is unlikely that we are looking at the Abbotts, as the only line surviving there is Jonathon’s and he married my cousin which makes Hannah a descendant of the same line as Susan.”

“It won’t be the MacMillans.” Melania chipped in, moving around the table to peer at the ledger.

“Here,” She said; pointing at the marriage record for Allard MacMillan and Hertha Bones. “Allard died in the war against Grindelwald and Hertha followed soon after of Dragonpox. They never birthed an heir.”

“So, we’re looking at the Greengrasses and the Lovegoods.” Remus said with a sigh. “At least we’re back in Britain with this line, the French one is looking to be a lost cause.”

“I’ll second that.” Alice replied, closing her book with a thump. “The only Black still recorded as living in France is Cassiopeia.” She trailed off and glanced at Melania. “How is she doing?” She asked quietly.

“She’s been moved to another of our estates and is being looked after by the healers.” Melania replied, somewhat stiffly. “Pollux has barely left the manor and seems to be blaming himself for her situation.” Alice and Remus glanced at each other with that comment, and a picture of how the LeStranges came to avoid capture was starting to form. “We will know more when she wakes up. Until then, we need to focus on the task at hand.” They all nodded and Lucius turned to start drafting a copy of the Bones family tree on another section of the blackboard.

“Everything will be okay.” Remus said, allowing Amelia to slip into the seat which he’d vacated. He squeezed her shoulder and she nodded at him, turning to the back of her family ledger and preparing herself for a long hour of research before Remus came to take over from her.

The system had been working well, with someone from the other group coming to take over every ten minutes or so, ensuring that the research team was constantly changing, allowing them to bounce ideas off of each other. They had been at it all day, and as dinner approached; Amelia began to wonder if they would have to pick it back up in the morning.

O_o_O_o_O

Sirius started slightly when Flip popped into the sitting room and told him he had a visitor. His mate had not long since returned from the drafting room and informed them of the situation with Amelia; and he was still digesting the news. He’d wanted to rush in and find out more but, Remus had advised him to let her and Lucius sort out her family tree before charging in and taking over. She was going to need some time to come to terms with the information, and the since Lucius himself had only just taken over from him, he needed a break himself before going back into research mode.

“Mistress Minnie is being here to sees you Master.” She said, bouncing slightly on the spot. “Should I bes letting her in to sees you?”

“Show her in Flip, please.” He replied with a smile. At least a visit from Minerva would take his mind temporarily off of the situation at hand.

“Do you need the room?” Arcturus asked, looking over at his heir.

“Of course not, what she knows, we all should know.”

“And what of Athena?”

“She is in our confidence.” Remus reassured the man. “She has protection from the old man.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that Mr Lupin.” Minerva said, catching the end of his sentence as she breezed into the sitting room. She greeted Sirius and glanced around at the unusual number of people, scattered around the settees.

“It’s a long story.” Sirius replied, in response to her unasked question. “Take a seat and tell us of the news from the castle.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t good.” She replied.

“We’ve heard from Augusta on the subject of Dumbledore’s issues.” Remus said.

“Where is she?” Minerva asked.

“Out running political errands.” Sirius replied. “I think she’s rather enjoying the incognito stuff, we fed her Polyjuice before she left.”

“She’s taken on Madame Black’s duties until she can return to the political ring.” Arcturus said, watching as Minerva’s eyebrows rose.

“We didn’t want to beak your confidence on the matter.” Sirius said with a wince. Arcturus nodded and explained the situation with Cassiopeia to the Hogwarts professor.

“If these two are willing to trust you with their information then I see no reason not to trust you with mine.” He said with a nod. “Sirius has declared you family, so you have a right to the knowledge.”

“Thank you for trusting me with this Lord Black.” Minerva responded bobbing her head at the man. “I am willing to take an oath to prove myself trustworthy.”

“No need my dear.” He said; waving away her concern. “I trust you to continue to be discreet.”

“So, what has happened since your last discussions with Augusta?” Remus asked. “You wouldn’t risk being here if it were not of concern.”

“Severus refuses to be satisfied with the information I have given him. He wishes to know my sources.”

“You haven’t told him about us?” Sirius asked, his eyebrows raising.

“To be fair, if she were to tell Snape that it was us supplying her info, he would more than likely cut ties with her.” Remus said with a shrug.

“He accused me of consorting with Deatheaters.” She said primly, smoothing her tartan skirt.

“He really thought you were talking to the Rat?” Sirius asked angrily. “Why in Morgana’s name would he think you want anything to do with the bastard?”

“Language Sirius.” Remus muttered, shooting a glance at Arcturus, who seemed to be deep in thought.

“There’s more.” She said. “And, I’m afraid I owe you both an apology.”

“This sounds like something we shouldn’t be privy to.” Andromeda said, rising with her sister and nodding to Frank, Emma and Dan to do the same. “We’ll get the kids out of your way so that you may talk in private.” She herded the small group out and closed the door, leaving the three men and the professor in relative silence.

“They seem edgy.” Minerva finally said.

“So do you.” Sirius replied. “Tell us what has happened, don’t worry about anything, we can take care of it, if it’s a real problem.”

“Filius knows about Harrison. I’m afraid that I haven’t been hiding my feelings on certain matters very well, and it turns out that I’m a terrible actor. He guessed that the child was still alive, before working out who has him. To be honest, you are both the obvious choice for anyone who gives it serious thought. There’s been a lot of backlash in the papers over Harry’s death, and a lot of questions asked about why he went to the Dursleys and not to you.”

“Okay, there’s a lot to unpack there so we’ll start out with the simplest; do you trust Flitwick?” Sirius asked.

“I trust him to be loyal to me, however, I don’t know if I trust Dumbledore not to be messing with his mind as well.”

“Then we obliviate him.” Sirius replied, glancing at his grandfather. “I know he’s your friend but we can’t take a security risk like that. If there is any chance of us getting found, we need to eliminate it.”

“It is your decision Sirius.” Arcturus replied.

“I agree with him.” Remus said quietly. “We need to make sure that the kids are safe.”

“I understand.” The woman said nodding her head. “How do you propose we complete this task?”

“How do you feel about looking after your niece’s dog for the weekend?” Was Sirius’s answering question.

O_o_O_o_O

Severus paced his sitting room as he tried to work through the dilemma he was now faced with. Having effectively burned his bridges with McGonagall, he was now flying blind onto what was happening outside Hogwarts. Dumbledore was evidently in a mess of his own making, and he had a pretty good idea of how that had come to be. The old man was not the sort to give up on the greater scheme of things, and the spanner in the works, regarding this damned prophecy was not likely to keep him slowed down for long. He would start looking towards other solutions, and Severus knew that the Longbottom boy had also been a candidate for the parameters set by the headmaster.

What he really wanted to know, is why in the name of Avalon wasn’t the boy with his godfather? His own bond with Draco pulled on his core if he was unable to look after his charge, and Black’s would have been doing the same, as soon as the brat was behind all of the illegal blood wards Dumbledore had no doubt erected around Privet Drive. What he needed was a way to get to Black, to find out exactly what had happened on the night of Samhain. He needed to see whether McGonagall’s information was factually correct.

What he didn’t realise was that his mission was mirroring the headmaster’s, and in his case, it was a mission he had no need to be on. Fate had given him the tools he needed to do his job; it wasn’t her fault that he refused to acknowledge them in his thirst for information. Sometimes, even she had to admit when she was defeated but she had to ensure that he stayed within her deck, or risk leaving his fate to chance.

O_o_O_o_O

She gazed around the room, somewhat astounded to realise just how many people were currently in the manor. She had seen the pair of Black sisters earlier, as well as an unfamiliar couple, but to see the sheer size of the group was another thing for her, already overwhelmed senses to take in.

“It’s quite a sight isn’t it?” Alice asked as she reached out for the dish of peas, helping herself before offering them to her.

“How have they managed it?” She asked, taking the dish and spooning some onto her plate before passing them to Augusta on her left.

“We’re connected by a common cause.” Alice replied. “Little Draco is one of the five supposedly mentioned in this damned prophecy; as is Athena, so naturally Emma and Dan were brought here.

“And, the Lady Bones?”

“Attempted to contact Sirius, got Remus instead and promptly moved herself in, following an invite. We’re becoming quite a ragtag bunch.”

“You don’t say.” Minerva replied, watching Lucius discuss the day’s activities with Sirius. “That is something I never thought I would witness.”

“We’re coping.” Alice replied with a hum. “It isn’t perfect but we’ll get there.”

“Are they moved in?”

“Not yet. I think Remus wants them in before Yule though.”

“We believe it would be beneficial for them to have a teething period before the Yule celebrations.” Augusta chipped in. “And, with recent events, we’ve all had to come to an unwritten agreement to try to get along.” Minerva glanced around the table once more, Frank and Dan chatting together; Neville and Athena balanced on their laps, Emma, Narcissa and Andromeda deep in discussion; Nymphadora and Draco watching on with wide eyes, Remus and Amelia entertaining the Lady Black, and Arcturus joining Sirius and Lucius in their own discussions.

“This is quite a sight.” Minerva said faintly, her dinner going largely ignored, in favour of watching the spectacle unfold in front of her eyes.

O_o_O_o_O

As the Black family dined together, Hadrian Greengrass was busy watching his own spectacle unfold. His wife had just announced her most recent pregnancy with their respective parents, and he honestly couldn’t tell whether her mother looked more furious or was simply trying to hold in gas. He knew that his father wanted them to sire a male heir, but he loved Daphne with all of his heart, and had no doubt that he would love his next child as equally, be them a daughter or a son.

“But she’s barely one!” Naomi’s mother finally shrieked after his own parents had gushed over their news. She turned to him with a vicious look on her face. “Couldn’t keep it to yourself, could you?” She hissed, much to her husband’s horror.

“May I remind you just who is in charge within this household.” His father said, raising from his seat. “To berate the husband of your only heir in front of said husband and parents, is inexcusable.”

“I apologise for my wife Lord Greengrass.” Matthew Selwyn said, bowing his head to the other lord. “She means well.”

“Just as you meant well for this family when you took the mark of a terrorist?” Wyndam Greengrass shot back. “Describe to me just how taking the Dark Lord’s mark has benefitted this family. Tell me what the Knights of Walpurgis have done for my grandchildren; current and future.”

“Please father, do not concern yourself with Lord Selwyn; I’m sure the Lady is just concerned for her daughter.” Hadrian turned to the female with steely eyes after soothing his father. He was in no mood to take any prisoners. “I am aware on your thoughts regarding children, and I understand where your concern comes from, birthing a squib is traumatic for any family, and I cannot imagine the pain you must have endured; the Greengrass line however has always birthed strong heirs, male _and_ female. My wife and I are confident in our ability to raise children, and I hope that you will come to see this child for what it is; a blessing upon the family.”

The Lord and Lady Selwyn had gone sheet white at his speech, certainly not expecting for their family’s dirty laundry to be aired at the dinner table. With their only son in Azkaban for crimes committed in the Dark Lord’s service, and their youngest child having been sequestered away to a pair of muggles, some years prior; Naomi _was_ the only heir they had left, and it seemed as though the Greengrasses had all intentions of looking after her. Matthew did the only sensible thing he had done in some time, and stood to bow to the rest of their company.

“I apologise again, you are correct in that our own circumstances have been allowed to cloud what should be a joyful occasion. We will take our leave, and wish you both all the very best.” He nodded to his daughter, who had barely looked in their direction since his wife’s outburst, and dragged his wife to her feet, heading towards the Floo parlour with as much haste as custom would allow.

He silently cursed the Greengrasses for what they had taken from him, and promised revenge for what the son had done to his family. Hadrian Greengrass was nothing but a jumped-up ministry lackey who would soon come to learn what it meant to cross the likes of a Selwyn. Little did he know that he would never receive the Chance to even touch the young Lord for his supposed transgressions, as Fate was about to intervene on his immediate plans in a big way.

O_o_O_o_O

Pandora cooed as her nine-month-old daughter stared at her with huge, blue eyes. She could hear her husband’s printing press running above her head and smiled as she leant down to relax on the handmade throw she’d spread out on the floor. She’d Seen what Fate had in store for the moon of her life, and promised herself that she would value this time with her daughter to her fullest extent before Fate carried out her plans. Her little life here in Devon with her eccentric husband and her beautiful baby girl, hadn’t _quite_ been what her grandmother had envisioned for her, when she’d travelled back to this country, almost a century ago; but Pandora wouldn’t trade her quirky house and loving husband for anything else.

As she got up to brew a bottle she called for Xeno to pack his work away for the evening, it was getting towards time for putting Luna to bed, something they made sure to do together every evening. As soon as she heard his footsteps on the winding staircase; she held out Luna’s bottle for her husband to take; knowing that he enjoyed feeding their daughter as much as she did. His face lit up when he saw her, and they shared a ‘private’ moment before starting to tend to their duties as parents.

Pandora knew that it would soon be time for Fate’s plan to be put into motion, and as she watched her husband feed their daughter, singing a song his mother had taught him; she wished that she could drag these days out forever.

O_o_O_o_O

Fate looked down upon the two families with a mixture of excitement and regret. She knew that one family’s bliss was about to be torn apart, and she wished that she could see another way forward. One of these girls was about to lose a parent; the other would have to be abandoned to the cruel judgement of Chance; there was nothing she could do to stop the inevitable; and it was up to her to keep the balance of life. Magic was starting to get restless, and Time was growing weary. It was up to her to decide which way the pendulum would swing.

O_o_O_o_O

“So, which do they think it is?” Minerva asked, sipping on her single malt as Augusta went to retrieve the bottle, in order to top them both up.

“They have no idea.” Her friend replied as she rummaged through her bottles; her voice dripping with regret. “I truly feel sorry for Amelia, she has dodged a bullet with Susan, only to find out that the last child will be born of her family anyway.”

“Who do you hope it to be?” Minerva asked, swirling her last mouthful of amber around her glass, before downing it and allowing Augusta to top her up.

“I can’t in all good conscience wish this fate on either of the possible children. I’m not sure I’ve come to grips with my grandson being put in such danger, never mind hoping it to be one girl or another. The Lovegoods would be easier to work with, but the Greengrasses lean more towards the old ways, I’m not sure which I’d prefer.”

“I don’t like the idea of any of those bairns to be put in harm’s way either.” Minerva rebuked. “But we cannot fight against what we cannot control, we can only hope for the best outcome for all parties involved.”

“You’ve never put any stock in Prophecies in your life.”

“And, look at where that’s got me. James and Lily are dead, your son and Alice almost followed them, all because of one man’s belief in a bloody Prophecy. At least we know that _this_ one is real.”

“In the unlikely event that she brings nothing else to the table in this whole debacle, I will forever be in Amelia’s debt, just for confirming the validity of said bloody Prophecy.” Augusta replied. “I couldn’t imagine what Sirius would do if this one was fake as well.”

“We’d never see either of them, or little Harry again.” Minerva replied. “Sirius would have him half way around the world before any of us knew what was happening.”

“I’m still not sure it isn’t the right course of action for any of us.” Augusta muttered. “With you having to dog-sit, just to keep us safe, and the fact that your bridges with Snape have all but been burned; I don’t think any of us are truly as safe as we think we are. I just have to hope that the old gods are watching over us, and that the forces that be are on our side.”

“I think that’s all any of us can do.” Minerva replied with a sigh, and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence as they finished their drinks. It wasn’t until Flip had taken her friend back to Hogwarts, a good few hours later; that she realised that Minerva was more or less now helpless up at the castle. She would be sure to rectify _that_ with Sirius first thing in the morning.

O_o_O_o_O

“How are you feeling?” Remus asked quietly, into the darkness. He could both hear and smell that Sirius was still awake, and he desperately wanted to know how his mate was coping with the events of the last couple of days.

“I just want this over Moony. I thought when we’d moved back into the family, and gotten settled here, everything would be okay, now I find out that this Prophecy is the real deal, and that our kids are going to be put into danger. I’ve never really seen myself with kids, or seen myself as the responsible one, but I’m now responsible for the lot of you, and these kids are going to be put in danger no matter what I do to try and prevent that. I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle.”

“You’re not alone Pads.” Moony whispered. “We are all here for you as well. You don’t have to try to take on the world on your own.” Sirius sighed and rolled over, wrapping his arms around his mate. “We’re here for you Sirius. _I’m_ here for you.”

“I love you Moony.”

“And I love you, you great big lump. Now please try to get to sleep, your breathing is keeping me awake.” Sirius groaned once before promptly falling asleep, his head tucked into his shoulder and his breath tickling his skin. Remus sighed and resolved himself to do the same, comfortable with his mate in his arms.


	14. Elphinstone

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Fourteen – Elphinstone

Amelia could feel the tension inside her growing as she dressed for the day ahead. Sirius had insisted on formal robes, as they were effectively going to be on official house business and she scowled at her appearance in the mirror. She’d perfected her French braiding (mostly for work) some years prior, and it wasn’t often she wore her hair down, but those that still followed the old-ways believed that heads of house should wear their hair loose as a status symbol to demonstrate how many years they had held their position. It was an old custom, but it was one that many families still followed and she _hated_ it. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she had straighter hair, but her thick, red curls just wouldn’t lay flat, and the ‘ _unique’_ results for redheads, cautioned by Sleekeazy’s bottle label ensured that she never went near the stuff.

“Amelia, are you coming for breakfast?” Alice asked, knocking on her bedroom door. She sighed, turning away from the mirror, giving up on her hair and opened the door for the younger woman. Alice took one look at her hair and burst into giggles, little Neville also following suit from his mother’s arms.

“Laugh it up, I’d like to see you do better.” She growled; beyond irritated by now.

“I’m sorry.” Alice replied, calming herself. “Let’s fix it for you.” She stepped past her and into the room, plonking Neville down onto the bed and moving a chair for the other woman to sit in, back in front of the mirror, which she did with a glare. “I know Sirius said he wanted you as traditional as possible,” Alice started, gathering hair from her temples and braiding it backwards. “but sometimes a difficult situation calls for a creative answer.”

“What are you doing?” Amelia asked, turning her head slightly to see the unusual braid Alice had constructed.

“It’s called a waterfall, and Lily taught me how to do it, to keep it out of my eyes whilst we were studying. You take a piece of hair and split it into two,” She started to demonstrate on the other side of her head. “You take a third piece and place it between them before you twist them around to lock it into place, keep adding and twisting until you get to the back of your head on both sides and tie whatever you have left in your hands together.” She finished the braid off by plaiting the excess and tying it off with a piece of grey leather. The effect was quite stunning on Amelia’s thick hair, and enough of it was still ‘down’ to be keeping with tradition.

“Thank you.” She said gratefully, turning her head from side to side to see the full effect. “I can French plait it, put it into a bun and give you another half a dozen styles where it’s up, but ask me to leave it down and I’m at a loss on how to control it.”

“You’re welcome, if you ever need a hand, let me know, I used to be terrible at doing my own until Lily sat and taught me.”

“I will, thanks.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“I get the feeling you’re about to.” Amelia replied with a smirk.

“How are you coping with…” Alice paused, uncertain on how to word her question without sounding rude. Amelia raised an eyebrow at her in the mirror.

“How am I coping with what?”

“With the Malfoys.” Alice rushed out before wincing. “I mean, I know that he wasn’t charged but…”

“If you mean to ask me whether I’m going to arrest Lucius at any time, I am not. As much as we all know what he did, as you said, he was never charged.”

“But they’re going to end up living here.” Alice said softly. “You understand that, right?”

“Look,” Amelia turned to face her and tried to pick her words carefully. “this situation is what it is. From what I’ve heard the light aren’t so rosy, and I’ve learnt so much shit about Dumbledore in the last week that I can’t even be sure that we were fighting for the right thing. If Sirius is to be believed, the Dark Lord wanted to keep it in the political arena, and if the rumours about his bloodline are true then he would have had no reason to push it to open warfare unless he was provoked. I can easily see Dumbledore not leaving a situation like that alone, and deciding to push it to warfare himself.”

“Sirius told us some things that James had wrote in the Potter journals, if even half of it is true, then Dumbledore might well be the real enemy if the Dark Lord ever returns.”

“What will happen, will happen Alice, I can’t change anything about the situation we’re in at the moment, and I gave my vow to Sirius that I would do whatever it took to look after these kids, throwing Draco’s father in Azkaban goes against that vow. I’m here to stay, my opinions on the man be damned.” There was a small silence following her passionate speech and Alice seemed to be a mixture of amused and victorious. “You played me.” She stated rather than asked.

“I needed to make sure.” Alice replied. “I will not apologise for it Amelia, I needed to be absolutely certain as to where your loyalties lay. You know that Sirius would never ask you to do something illegal, but I need you to understand that what we’re doing, this situation… I needed to make sure that none of us are in danger of you using your position.”

“I understand.” Amelia replied, reaching up to grasp her former Aurora’s hands. “You have every right to be wary, and I understand that there are going to be things happening around us that might conflict with my work but, you need to understand that I would never do anything to put this Household in jeopardy.” They shared a smile before Alice seemed to shake herself out of her musings and glance at her watch.

“Oh Merlin, we need to get to breakfast before Sirius comes looking, or even worse; Melania. I like the woman but she scares the living crap out of me.” Amelia laughed at that and went to pluck Susan from her play pen, which had been set up in one corner of her rooms. The two women made their way downstairs and were greeted warmly by the rest of the household. Lucius and Narcissa had caved to Remus’s wishes the previous evening and had slept at the manor, making it twenty for breakfast (the little ones included). It was starting to turn into quite the household, and even though she knew that the Malfoys, plus Arcturus and Melania were only temporary additions; they would soon potentially have yet another family staying with them.

O_o_O_o_O

Minerva jumped when her Floo flared to life in the grate. Her skittishness, following the conversations at Caddington the previous night had yet to completely dissipate and the unexpected green flames had sent half of her tea flying out of its mug.

“Forgive me Minerva.” Filius said as he stepped out of the fire and took stock of the situation. A few swishes of his wand later and her tea was cleared up and a fresh one had been levitated from her kitchen. “I had not meant to startle you.”

“Its quite alright Filius.” She replied with a tight-lipped smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“I do.” He replied, hopping up into one of her armchairs. “You’re not sleeping, you are worried about the Potter boy, you are worried about Black, you are furious with the Albus and it turns out that the Snape boy has been giving you a hard time.” Severus’s placement on the school’s staff had caused quite a bit of controversy amongst the rest of the teachers in Hogwarts. Most thought he was far too young to hold the position of a Professor, and that was before Dumbledore had made him the head of Slytherin. As such, most of her older colleagues had yet to break the habit of calling him ‘boy’.

“Severus will do what he will do, and say what he has to say.” She replied politically. “It is true that I care not for the situation, but it is one of my own making.”

“Minnie, in all the years I have known you, and there have been quite a considerable number of them now; I have never seen you lose hope in a situation. Not like this anyway. I know that we rely too much on you, and I know that you have the hardest job out of all of us, but you must remember that I am here to support you my friend. I remember a time when we kept nothing from each other, can we not return to what we once had?” Minerva considered her friend’s words carefully. She and Filius _had_ known each other for a long time, almost as long as she and Pomona had known one another, and it was true that before the events of the past few years, they had been close friends. He’d helped her out of the hole she had dug herself during her time at the ministry.

“You must understand that there are things I am _unable_ to share with you Filius; despite how much I may want to.”

“Then share with me what you can.” He replied softly. She considered his offer, of the dangers it could put him in if Dumbledore got to him before the weekend, of the danger it would put _her_ in.

“How about I devote my Saturday to telling you everything I am able?” She asked. “It is getting late, and I am growing weary.”

“Then Saturday it is.” He agreed with a nod, hopping down from his chair. “Be warned that I have questions Minnie, and lots of them.” She smiled thinly and showed him out when he excused himself. She shut the door behind him, resting against it and taking a moment to collect herself before striding to her desk and penning a letter to Sirius, sending it with her owl; Sulis and deciding to finally head to her bed for the afternoon. Her marking was done and she had no classes left for the day, so an early night was definitely in order.

O_o_O_o_O

“I need to speak with you.” Alice whispered to Remus, when she was certain that they could not be overheard. Amelia and Sirius were out visiting the Greengrasses and Lovegoods so the werewolf had promptly plucked Susan out of her Aunt’s arms that morning and didn’t seem to be letting her go. He nodded at her, and the four of them (Neville not having left his mother’s arms for the best part of the morning) slipped away from the conversations in the family sitting room and took temporary refuge in Sirius’s office.

“What’s wrong?” He asked with a frown as he closed the door, and noted her nervousness.

“I have a confession, and I can’t keep it a secret any longer.” She replied, sitting Neville on the desk so that she could start to pace. “I have been going over everything in my head, and I don’t think there will be any harm in telling you and Sirius, but I don’t want anyone else to know.” Her pacing was stopped by him placing himself in front of her and gripping her arm in gently.

“What’s wrong?” He asked again, meeting her eyes and trying to convey his own calmness onto her agitated state.

“I knew about Athena.” Alice replied quickly. “I knew that she existed, I helped Lily with her in the early days and I knew that she had been given to Emma and Dan.”

“I would ask why you didn’t say anything, but I am well aware of the dangers you would have caused if you had.” Remus said with a sigh, after a short moment of silence. He took a seat behind Sirius’s desk and nodded to the chair in front. Alice nervously took it; lifting Neville into her arms as she did. “Why now?” He eventually asked, once he’d collected his thoughts. “Why tell us at all?”

“Because I can’t keep it a secret any longer.” Alice whispered. “Because I can’t watch you and Sirius struggle to come to terms with what they did, knowing that I can help.”

“Who else knew?”

“No one that I’m aware of. Not even Frank knew. Lily and I practically went through our pregnancies together, with Frank busy at work, and Augusta spending most of her time in the political ring, I was left alone most of the time. Lily needed help as her pregnancy with Harry was hard, and with looking after Athena as well, it was a bit of a handful for her. I don’t know if they told anyone else, but I’m guessing not.” Remus nodded at that, not knowing what to say. “I know that I should have said something sooner.” Alice whispered. “But I just wanted to be sure that we were safe. I know that we are now, I know that the Lord Black will do anything to keep this family together and safe from Dumbledore and I know that Amelia will do her best to protect us from the ministry. I know that the Lady Black will be one of the best allies we could have possibly courted, and I know that you and Sirius would die before you let any of these kids be put in danger.”

“I still don’t get why you felt the need to come forward like this Alice.” Remus said quietly. He held up his hand when she went to protest, wanting to expand on his confusion. “I understand why you didn’t come forwards earlier and I know why you have come forwards at all. But, why to me? Why like this? You look half scared to death that I’m going to be angry with you.”

“You aren’t?” She asked. He sighed and stood up, placing Harry on the floor and lifting Neville out of her arms to join him. He pulled her up from the seat and wrapped her in a hug, rubbing her back when she broke down in his arms.

“How could I ever be angry at any action taken to protect her?” He asked quietly. “How could I ever be angry at _you_? Why should I be?”

“Because I have kept this from you.” She replied through her tears. “Because I have withheld information into House matters.”

“House matters that were ours to discover ourselves.” Remus replied. “Arcturus took vows to keep Lily’s silence on the matter and I have a suspicious feeling that he knows more about Athena than he’s letting on. I think he knew something about Dorea’s adoption of her as well. If he couldn’t share what he knew, why should we expect you to? You were keeping the little one safe, and that’s all Sirius can ask of any of us.” She pulled back and sniffed, smiling when he wiped her eyes with the sleeve of his knitted jumper.

“I’m being an idiot, aren’t I?” She asked, laughing when he let out a huff of half amusement. She wiped her cheeks, her nervousness gone and her shoulders a little lighter. She knew that as long as she had Remus to turn to, she’d be okay.

O_o_O_o_O

“Thank you for agreeing to meet Lord Greengrass.” Sirius said, sitting down after shaking the man’s outstretched hand. Amelia had bobbed a small curtsy when he had taken her hand and kissed it, but Sirius knew that he was under no duty to show the same courtesy so instead maintained eye contact and stretched his shoulders back. The Bones family, although an Ancient house, was one rung below the Greengrass one in terms of political power. The Blacks however, outstretched the Greengrasses by quite a large margin.

“It is my pleasure to host you Heir Black, and please call me Hadrian.” The man replied smoothly, not giving away any of the surprise he had felt when Sirius had stepped out of his Floo. He wasn’t sure who he _had_ been expecting after receiving a missive from the Black heir, but it definitely _hadn’t_ been Sirius.

“Very well Hadrian.” Sirius replied with a nod. “I will get straight down to business if I may.” Hadrian nodded once and Sirius went on to explain, in great detail the situation with the prophecy, the finding of the first four children, and how their suspicions were raised about his daughter after tracing the Bones line back as far as they could. “We still can’t be certain of who the fifth child is.” Sirius said, finishing off his tale. “We have narrowed it down to either your daughter, or the child of the Lovegoods.”

“So how do we proceed?” The man asked stiffly. He had not asked any questions during Sirius’s explanation of the situation, even though he had many fighting for precedence in his thoughts.

“I would like to invite you to take dinner with our household at Caddington Hall this evening. We can place the prophecy orb down and see if young Daphne has any reaction to it. If not, you may leave safe in the knowledge that she isn’t going to be labelled as a prophesised child.”

“And if she does?” He asked.

“Then an there will be an open invite for you to join our household. As I explained; we have no idea what is in that prophecy yet, as soon as we do, we can go from there. We are all flying blind here.”

“And what of your allegiances?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. “I find it curious that you are sat here as Heir Black. Word was that you had all but denounced your family.” He knew that he was treading on thin ice with a question like that. Sirius would well be in his rights to dismiss the question, or call him out for fishing, but the man gave a characteristic half smile and nodded his head.

“You would be right. Until Samhain I was all but estranged from the Blacks. However, recent events have brought into sharp relief that which I have yet to achieve.”

“And that is?”

“Security.” He said simply. “Security for my mate, security for my godson and security for myself. I have so far failed that child in the worst possible way, now I must make reparations to his parents for his orphaning.”

“I see.” There was a short pause which the Lord Greengrass used to take stock of the situation he had found himself in. “I would like to know of my daughter’s fate.” He said finally after some deliberation. “I will commit to the dinner this evening, and nothing more.”

“That is completely understandable.” Sirius replied. “And that is all I am asking for right now, apart from secrecy of course.”

“Will the Lovegoods also be joining us?”

“They will, they are next on my list to visit.”

“And what do you have to say in all of this Lady Bones?” He asked, turning to Amelia. She had been unhappy to learn from Sirius that she would have to drop her moniker of ‘Madame’ for the day if they were on official business. Circe how she hated the politics of it all.

“As it is through the Bones family by which this situation has been brought to you, anything you require from the house will be granted.” She was quite pleased with how she worded that one. She didn’t want to give him any ideas about asking for anything through her job. Hadrian nodded once and stood; holding out his hand for Sirius to shake, dismissing them in a way that raised Sirius’s hackles.

“I will see you at six sharp then Heir Black.” He said when the man went to shake his hand.

“The Floo address is The Orrery, Caddington Hall.” Sirius replied. “We will see you then.” Hadrian nodded again and turned to Amelia, bowing to kiss her hand once more, breaking protocol for the fourth time that morning. They were shown the Floo and they stepped through into Sirius’s office, taking seats on either side of the desk.

“I don’t like him.” Sirius said with just a hint of a pout.

“I could tell.” Amelia replied with a laugh. “You almost growled at him as we left.”

“He ignored protocol four times in the space of the two hours we were with him.”

“How? I did not notice.” Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes, fighting back his frustration.

“He should have greeted me before you, he should have at least bowed his head when he did, just like you acknowledged him with a curtsy. They were the first two slights. “The third came when we were dismissed, as again he gave no bow of any kind, before giving you that which he denied me. An argument could be made that since we were there on Bones business, that you held primary over the situation however, the Blacks are several rungs higher on the political ladder than the Greengrasses. I didn’t learn much from my parents, but I learnt how to recognise when I was being insulted.”

“Perhaps he wasn’t aware he was.” She replied diplomatically, still cursing the politics of it all.

“Oh, he knew what he was doing all right. Wyndam taught _both_ of his children well, and Hadrian has been gearing up to take over the House for at least the past two years. I believe that old man Greengrass wasn’t confident that he would survive the war.”

“It seems that I have much to learn.” Amelia sighed, irritated. “I didn’t even _know_ there was a second Greengrass child.”

“That’s because they had a daughter.” Sirius replied quietly. “She fell to the Knights of Walpurgis, not long after graduating Hogwarts. That’s how Hadrian ended up marrying the Selwyn Heiress, Matthew Selwyn was forced to pay damages for the death of Harriet Greengrass in the shape of his only daughter.” Amelia groaned and let her head fall on his desk with a gentle thump.

“How did our internal politics get so fucked up?” She asked despairingly. Sirius laughed at that, not even denying the fact that she was right.

O_o_O_o_O

She awoke to the early evening dusk, and the sound of someone moving about her quarters. She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and quickly tied her housecoat around her waist. A disillusion and silencing charm later and she was peering around her bedroom door, anger and adrenaline cursing though her. She was going to disembowel whoever was in her sitting room, and she was going to do it slowly and painfully. She caught sight of a head of white-grey hair, sitting on her settee; facing away from her and she lifted her wand, pointing it at the man’s head; ready to strike.

“You know that your sneak charms never worked on me.” The man said in a cheery voice from his seat before lifting one of her cups to his lips and sipping on the tea he’d apparently made himself. She sighed in relief and dropped her wand; sagging against her door.

“Elphinstone Urquart you better have a bloody good reason for scaring me half to death.” She growled; sliding down her door to land with a thump on the floor. Her wand clattered out of her hand and she dropped the charms, shedding them from her skin and revealing herself to the former Auror. He finally stood up, placing his cup on her coffee table and turning to face her. His eyes went wide when he saw her pale, shaking and quite evidently exhausted. He rushed around the furnishings, his speed contradictory to his age, as he knelt down to check her temperature and generally fuss over her in a way that made her feel safe. It had been a long time since she had felt truly safe, but as he pulled her forwards into his arms, whispering apologies for his absence, she felt safer than she had done in almost half a decade.

“I didn’t know if I would ever see you again.” He whispered; brushing his hand over her hair. “I am truly sorry to have left you mea Leaenae.” He rested his forehead against hers, still brushing his hand over the back of her head in a comforting gesture. She wanted to scream at him, curse him, shout at him until her lungs gave out, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, knowing that this man, above everyone else would understand her anger and embrace it. “I missed you so.”

“I don’t know whether to swear at you or kiss you.” She whispered into his shoulder. She felt him shake as he failed to hold in his amusement and she looked up to give him a grade one scowl, further increasing his mirth.

“You, my dear are in need of a cup of tea and some dinner.” He said, brushing a piece of hair away from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. “And then you’re going to tell me exactly what is going on.” She nodded tiredly and allowed him to pull her to her feet, sitting on the settee to watch; as he bustled around her small kitchen, fixing her a cup of black tea and ordering two plates of dinner from the elves. It seemed oddly domestic and she felt warmth seep into her bones, maybe she could get through this.

O_o_O_o_O

“Hello Heir Back.” Pandora greeted with a smile and a bow, before greeting Amelia in the same way. Sirius smiled as he took her hand and placed a kiss upon it, before turning to offer Xenophillius a handshake. “You are most welcomed into our small home. I expect you will wish to see our little Moon?”

“Why don’t we take a seat and have a chat before you introduce us to your daughter.” Sirius replied with a smile. “And please, I insist you call me Sirius.”

“Then we must offer the same curtesy Sirius.” Xenophillius responded. “It will be Xeno and Pan from here on out, please come and sit down and I shall prepare a pot of tea. You will have to excuse my wife if she starts without me, she has been most eager to meet you.” The Lady in question blushed and shot her husband a look of admonishment, but she led them through to the sitting room nonetheless and Amelia could see just how different this meeting was going to be, compared with their last. Sirius had still been grumbling about the Greengrass Lord when he stepped through the Floo for this visit, and she was glad of the warm and open welcome they had received, if for nothing else but to shut him up.

“Xeno is unfortunately correct.” Pandora started, once they were all settled. “I have been waiting for this meeting, father of the prophesised.”

“You have the Sight.” Amelia, rather bluntly stated, internally wincing at her own lack of decorum. This politicking stuff was going to take some getting used to. “I apologise for my bluntness.” She immediately corrected. “Its just, the last week or so has been trying for all of us, and any insight you may be able to give us would be invaluable.”

“I do not have the Sight in the sense that you mean.” Pandora responded with a frown. “I cannot See the future, only the magic that links us together, and links Sirius with his children, both present and future.”

“So, you have Mage Sight?” Sirius asked quietly, the strange, blonde woman stirring his natural curiosity.

“No.” She replied with a serene smile. “I do not have Mage Sight. I can sense the fabric of Time, and the influence Fate, Chance and Magic have upon it. I see the things that link us together, rather than the magic itself, and I know of the lost things which live amongst the spaces between us. I see more than most, but less than all.”

“My wife’s gifts are rather unique.” Xeno said as he appeared in the doorway, carrying a tray of steaming mugs. “You must forgive her if she appears vague.”

“There is nothing to forgive.” Sirius said with a smile. “In the last month alone, I have been shocked more by things I thought I understood, than I have by those I have still yet to discover. I have never had a love of Divination, however, following the events of the last few weeks, I cannot dispute that it is a valid gift, for those who carry it. Please continue Pan, your unique perspective may shed new light on our situation.” Pandora’s subsequent smile lit up the room, and Amelia found herself quietly deciding that this couple were the best bet for the future of their children, not that she would get a say in which family Fate had chosen to join their own.

O_o_O_o_O

“What time is everyone due to arrive?” Remus asked quietly, watching as his mate sifted through papers on his desk.

“About six, I thought it best to give the elves time to prepare.”

“How did things go?”

“They were both amenable to taking dinner, Hadrian refuses to commit to anything further than that. We were just about dismissed out of hand at the Greengrasses, If the fifth child is theirs, we’re going to have a hard time of it.”

“And the Lovegoods?” Sirius let out a sigh and dropped back against his chair, folding his arms and closing his eyes for a second.

“The Lady Lovegood possesses gifts like nothing I have ever seen. She spoke of things that could not possibly exist, but her voice held no deceit that I could detect. She is adamant that she doesn’t have the Sight in the traditional sense, and its not Mage Sight either. It is something else, something I can’t quite put my finger on, but can’t deny the existence of either.”

“She has the blood of the Norns.” Remus replied with a nod. “Any gifts she possesses are unlikely to be any we’ve seen before. I can look into things more if Luna is discovered to be the fifth.”

“At this point I’m almost hoping that she is.” Sirius replied with a grimace. “It’s selfish and I feel like a wretch, wishing that on either of those girls, but the Lovegoods are my preferred option to work with.”

“I guess we’ll see after dinner. You should get cleaned up; I’ll have Flip run you a bath.”

“Thanks, Moony. I owe you one.”

“You owe me several after the amount of entertaining we’ve been having to do this week you absolute dog.” Remus laughed. “I’ll accept payment in the form of books and chocolate.”

“Deal.”

O_o_O_o_O

“You have been trying to carry this on your own?” Elphinstone asked incredulously, irritation towards the Black boy growing in his chest. He’d met the young man only once before, during his and James Potter’s Auror training. He’d not thought much of Sirius’s attitude, however now that he knew most of the story, he could see just how the chip on his shoulder had developed. What he didn’t understand was the decision to leave their greatest asset in the hands of the Snape boy, what in Merlin’s name were they thinking?

“Don’t be mad at Sirius.” Minerva said quietly from the side of him. “It was my choice not to tell Severus the full story, I am to blame for the fact that I am just about now defenceless. I have written to them asking their permission to bring Filius into the fold. He already knows a little about Harry, and the fact that he’s still alive. We were planning on removing the memory to prevent Albus getting a hold of it, but following what has happened I think it’s best if we leave him be.”

“Well I’ll still be having words with Black if I see him.” He muttered angrily. “You are their biggest asset and he’s trusted your safety to a turncoat. You deserve better mea Leaenae.”

“They offered to attempt to take a position here themselves. Remus was quite confident that they would be able to get at least one of them into a job.”

“Did they ask you to retire?” He asked quietly. “Because if they did, I will brain them myself.”

“No Elf they didn’t ask me to retire.” She replied with a chuckle, the pet name slipping out. “Augusta and I discussed it, but she pointed out that I would be of most value here, and with the right protections in place, I’ll end up being crucial to their future plans, especially when those bairns enter these halls. I can’t stand to think what will happen to them if I at least can’t keep an eye on them.” She let out a yawn and he wrapped his arm tighter around her. They were huddled on her settee together, watching the fire and wrapped up in her mother’s old, Tartan blanket. It was peaceful, warm and so very tempting; to stay wrapped up like that forever, but she knew that soon he would have to return to his work, and she would have to return to her classes, and so she vowed to savour every moment of this peace.


End file.
